In an effort to provide information on recently declassified motion pictures and sound recordings the Motion Picture, Sound and Video Branch will publish a quarterly list of newly declassified records.

This quarter’s list includes sound recordings relating to former Marine Sergeant Jon M. Sweeney who was a prisoner of war (POW) in Southeast Asia from February 19, 1969 to August 31, 1970. The catalog entry for this series (National Archives Identifier: 12005668) is not currently live in our catalog, OPA. We apologize for the inconvenience and will provide a link to this entry as soon as possible.

From April 1, 2014 through June 30, 2014 the following records were declassified.

Motion Pictures:

Local Identifier                       Title

Sound Recordings:

Local Identifier           Title

Descriptive information for declassified records can be accessed by searching for the item number, ex. “341-IR-38-56”, in NARA’s Catalog (OPA). You may also search on the Declassification Project Number (NND), if you know one. For example, searching on the declassification number “NND 64803” returns entries that are part of Declassification Project 64803. A list of declassified textual records can be found on the National Declassification Center’s web page.

Check out the post “From Top Secret Vault to Open Stacks: Declassification of Moving Images” to learn more about the declassification process. Lists of other recently declassified moving images and sound recordings can be located by clicking on the Declassification Quarterly Reports category on the left side of the blog.

Decades after the Roswell Incident people are still fascinated by it. Last October we wrote about National Archives moving image holdings relating to Project Blue Book and unidentified flying objects (UFOs).

In addition to Project Blue Book we also have records relating to the alleged UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. The U.S. Air Force (USAF) conducted several interviews in the early 1990s as well as researching textual records during the investigation into the crash, culminating in the publication of The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert in 1995.

In 1997 the Air Force released a follow-up report titled The Roswell Report: Case Closed. Both reports are available in the series Moving Images Relating to “The Roswell Reports” Source Data Research Files, 1946 – 1996 (Local Identifier: 341-ROSWELL / National Archives Identifier: 566658). The Air Force also produced the video Roswell Reports in support of the textual report. This video provides great background information on the Roswell incident and subsequent investigation.

Roswell Reports (Local Identifier: 341-ROSWELL-1 / National Archives Identifier: 2788598)

We also have audio interviews with USAF personnel and alleged witnesses to a UFO crash in the series Sound Recordings Relating to “The Roswell Reports”, 1991 – 1996 (Local Identifier: 341-ROSWELLa / National Archives Identifier: 566843). The USAF interviewees discuss the dropping of anthropomorphic, or crash test, dummies from high altitude balloons to study freefall characteristics and improve parachute design.

One of the interviews is with Colonel Dan Fulgham, who was in a May 1959 parachute accident with Colonel Joseph Kittinger, Jr. and Colonel William Kaufman in New Mexico. The accident resulted in serious swelling of Fulgham’s head and discoloration of his face. Some people believe that the stories of the 1947 Roswell Incident and the injured men from the 1959 accident got confused and the two stories turned into the one that we hear today. You can hear about the accident in the two recordings below.

Interview with Col. David D. Fulgham, USAF (Ret.), May 26, 1995 (Local Identifier: 341-ROSWELLa-6)

Images of Fulgham’s injuries can be seen in Roswell Reports (above).

Statement of Witness and Transcript  341-ROSWELLa-6

Interview with Col. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., USAF (Ret.), June 23, 1995 (Local Identifier: 341-ROSWELLa-11)

Statement of Witness and Transcript  341-ROSWELLa-11

You can check out more interviews on YouTube.

Gerald Anderson Interview (Local Identifier: 341-ROSWELL-16 / National Archives Identifier: 2788892)

W. Glenn Dennis Interview (Local Identifier: 341-ROSWELL-14 / National Archives Identifier: 2788762)

Interviews with Jed Roberts, Marilyn Strickland & Alice Knight (Local Identifier: 341-ROSWELL-17 / National Archives Identifier: 2788893)

This post was written by Marcia Kolko. Marcia is an archives specialist in the National Archives Motion Picture, Sound and Video Branch.

September represents one of the holiest months of the year for members of the Jewish faith, as it includes the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is worth noting then, that the Motion Picture, Sound and Video Branch has within its holdings a 1969, color film entitled A Mitzvah to Serve.

Wikipedia will tell you that the Hebrew word “mitzvah” is often defined as a moral deed performed as a religious duty. A more cultural description of the word might be an act of human kindness. Either use of the word is apparent in this orientation film which presents the meaning, responsibilities and value of Jewish lay leadership in the armed forces. Scenes examine how American Jewish servicemen participated in (and, in the absence of a rabbi, often led) holiday and weekly religious services in Vietnam, as well as other postings around the globe. According to documents in the production file, the film was intended to recruit servicemen of all faiths to participate in the lay leadership program, as well as serve as a resource for Christian Chaplains who had “the prime responsibility for the spiritual life of Jewish soldiers.”

A Jewish lay leadership volunteer conducts a religious service for soldiers stationed overseas.
(Still from A Mitzvah to Serve.)

In interviews throughout the film, soldiers relate how the services they attended strengthened their Jewish identity and provided a community for them in an otherwise gentile environment. The film’s title A Mitzvah to Serve is undoubtedly making a reference not only to the importance of volunteering for military service, but also to the responsibility and kindness of leading others at a religious gathering in the absence of a rabbi.

In an effort to provide information on recently declassified motion pictures and sound recordings the Motion Picture, Sound and Video Branch will publish a quarterly list of newly declassified records.

From July 1, 2014 through September 30, 2014 the following records were declassified.

Motion Pictures:

Local Identifier           Title

Sound Recordings:

Local Identifier           Title

No sound recordings were declassified during this quarter.

Descriptive information for declassified records can be accessed by searching for the item number, ex. “341-IR-38-56”, in NARA’s Catalog (OPA). You may also search on the Declassification Project Number (NND), if you know one. For example, searching on the declassification number “NND 64803” returns entries that are part of Declassification Project 64803. A list of declassified textual records can be found on the National Declassification Center’s web page.

Check out the post “From Top Secret Vault to Open Stacks: Declassification of Moving Images” to learn more about the declassification process. Lists of other recently declassified moving images and sound recordings can be located by clicking on the Declassification Quarterly Reports category on the left side of the blog.

In an effort to provide information on recently declassified motion pictures and sound recordings the Motion Picture, Sound and Video Branch will publish a quarterly list of newly declassified records.

This quarter’s list includes two films documenting post-WWII Europe. Die Erste Schritte [The First Steps] shows the buildup of West German armed forces and the creation of the Bundeswehr.

Die Erste Schritte [The First Steps] (Local Identifier: 319-GENERAL-1 / National Archives Identifier: 61134)

The second film documents the show of power by the Soviet Union through a Cold War military parade in Poland in 1956.

Poland (Local Identifier: 319-GENERAL-3 / National Archives Identifier: 61136)

Both films (319-GENERAL-1, 319-GENERAL-3) are in foreign languages, so we are asking for your help translating them! They are available on NARA’s Amara page if you are interested in helping.

From October 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014 the following records were declassified.

Motion Pictures:

Local Identifier                      Title

Sound Recordings:

Local Identifier           Title

No sound recordings were declassified during this quarter.

Descriptive information for declassified records can be accessed by searching for the item number, ex. “341-IR-38-56”, in NARA’s Catalog . You may also search on the Declassification Project Number (NND), if you know one. For example, searching on the declassification number “NND 64803” returns entries that are part of Declassification Project 64803. A list of declassified textual records can be found on the National Declassification Center’s web page.

Check out the post “From Top Secret Vault to Open Stacks: Declassification of Moving Images” to learn more about the declassification process. Lists of other recently declassified moving images and sound recordings can be located by clicking on the Declassification Quarterly Reports category on the left side of the blog.

In an effort to provide information on recently declassified motion pictures and sound recordings the Motion Picture, Sound and Video Branch will publish a quarterly list of newly declassified records.

This quarter’s list consists of one film, MB-1 Documentary showing testing of the Genie missile.

Local Identifier: 342-USAF-29521/National Archives Identifier: 68126

From January 1, 2015 through March 31, 2015 the following records were declassified.

Motion Pictures:

Local Identifier           Title

342-USAF-29521       MB-1 Documentary

Sound Recordings:

Local Identifier           Title

No sound recordings were declassified during this quarter.

Descriptive information for declassified records can be accessed by searching for the item number, ex. “341-IR-38-56”, in NARA’s Catalog. You may also search on the Declassification Project Number (NND), if you know one. For example, searching on the declassification number “NND 64803” returns entries that are part of Declassification Project 64803. A list of declassified textual records can be found on the National Declassification Center’s web page.

Check out the post “From Top Secret Vault to Open Stacks: Declassification of Moving Images” to learn more about the declassification process. Lists of other recently declassified moving images and sound recordings can be located by clicking on the Declassification Quarterly Reports category on the left side of the blog.

In February 1969, only a few weeks after arriving in Vietnam, Sergeant Jon Sweeney disappeared from Company M, 3d Battalion, 9th Marines. Unable to keep up with his company he was left behind and told to join the rear guard that was only minutes behind. When the rear guard arrived Sweeney was nowhere to be found. During the search Marines found Sweeney’s gun and ammunition, but nothing else. It would be nine months before anything more was heard of Sweeney.

Jon M. Sweeney

During World War II President Franklin Roosevelt created the Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service (FBMS), under the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to monitor axis radio broadcasts. In 1947 the FBMS was moved to the CIA and renamed the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS). FBIS continued monitoring foreign broadcasts after World War II ended and it was through a North Vietnamese monitored broadcast that Sweeney was discovered. In his broadcasts Sweeney referred to himself as a deserter and spoke of joining the Vietnamese cause. Some broadcasts even provided instructions to others on how to desert and join the North Vietnamese, including this statement on July 16, 1970.

In August 1970 Sweeney was taken to Stockholm on a North Vietnamese passport and released. On his return to the United States he was charged with desertion and aiding the enemy. Executive Order 10631, signed by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1955 established a Code of Conduct to be followed by US Prisoners of War. The Code says “I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.” At the time the US did not have a policy protecting Prisoners of War (POWs) from being tried for statements made in captivity. Sweeney admitted to participating in broadcasts, but said he did so under duress. After the trial Sweeney was found not guilty on all charges and honorably discharged from the Marine Corps.

Although he was tried and found not guilty, to this day there are some who believe that this was a miscarriage of justice and that Sweeney deserted and freely participated in North Vietnamese propaganda. You can learn more about the case of Sergeant Sweeney from the records in 127-IIFa (NAID 12005668), Sound Recordings Relating to Former POW Sgt. Jon M. Sweeney, 2/22/1969 – 9/1/1970, as well as textual records here at the National Archives.

A number of these audio recordings have poor sound quality due to being recorded from on-air broadcasts from Hanoi and Moscow.

This recording contains Christmas greetings from POWs to their families in the United States. Sweeney’s message begins at 24:48. Followed by his poem “Black Tomorrow”, which begins below.

NARA Local Identifier: 127-IIFa-16

Sweeney broadcast regarding Marine Corps Code of Conduct, May 14, 1970

NARA Local Identifier: 127-IIFa-26

Sweeney message to US Troops fighting in Vietnam, January 21, 1970

NARA Local Identifier: 127-IIFa-17

In an effort to provide information on recently declassified motion pictures and sound recordings the Motion Picture, Sound and Video Branch will publish a quarterly list of newly declassified records.

This quarter’s list includes a film from a series of Air Force Intelligence Reports (Local Identifier 341-IR/National Archives Identifier 5964869). The reports cover countries around the world during the 1950s and 1960s. The film below shows the pomp and circumstance of a military parade in Yugoslavia.

Yugoslavia May Day Parade, 1953 (Local Identifier 341-IR-98-53/National Archives Identifier 18559968) *This catalog entry is not currently live in our catalog. We apologize for the inconvenience and will repair the link for this entry as soon as possible.

From April 1, 2015 through June 30, 2015 the following records were declassified.

Motion Pictures:

Local Identifier           Title

341-IR-98-53              May Day Parade, Yugoslavia, 1953

342-USAF-28653      Operational Systems Test Facility for ICBM Titan at Vandenberg

                                      AFB, April 1960

342-USAF-34616      TAC Operations, McCoy AFB, November 1962

342-USAF-49604*  Operation Eagle Pull / Operation Frequent Wind

*Only Reels 5, 12, 49, 69, 106 and 164 have been declassified

Sound Recordings:

Local Identifier           Title

No sound recordings were declassified during this quarter.

Descriptive information for declassified records can be accessed by searching for the item number, ex. “341-IR-38-56”, in NARA’s catalog. You may also search on the Declassification Project Number (NND), if you know one. For example, searching on the declassification number “NND 64803” returns entries that are part of Declassification Project 64803. A list of declassified textual records can be found on the National Declassification Center’s web page.

Check out the post “From Top Secret Vault to Open Stacks: Declassification of Moving Images” to learn more about the declassification process. Lists of other recently declassified moving images and sound recordings can be located by clicking on the Declassification Quarterly Reports category on the left side of the blog.

This post was written in collaboration with Ellen Mulligan.

The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the worst flood in U.S. history.

RG 23 Mississippi Flood Map 1927 NAID 2436794

Following the mass destruction caused by the flood, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expanded the existing levee system to more than 3,500 miles, making it the longest in the world. Plans and progress from 1938 are illustrated below.

RG 77 Flood Control Maps NAID 1078584, Mississippi River Basin 1938

The levees were meant to decrease flooding along the river, but after subsequent major floods some believe that this altering of the course of the Mississippi has increased flood damage during storms. The films below show construction of levees along the Mississippi.

Levee Construction, Mississippi River, Vicinity Arkansas City, NAID 21331650, Local ID: 77-GENERAL-119*

This film includes intertitles describing the project, including levee specifications. I found it interesting that in addition to providing information regarding the height of the tower and the generator used, at 2:28 they also tell the cost of running the levee. I was pretty amazed at the cost to operate one levee, which is listed as $20,000/month. In today’s dollars that is $274,000.

Methods of Levee Construction on the Mississippi River, NAID 22377367, Local ID: 77-GENERAL-120*

Levees also attempt to control the river’s ever-changing course. Channels change course due to the constant movement of sediment and erosion of banks. Compiling survey information from 1765 to the 1930’s, this map shows changes in the river channel in the Arkansas City area featured in the film above.

Click on the images above for a slide show at full size.

Levees are also intended to prevent flooding from storm surges like the flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. A follow-up post will feature records related to that storm. More records relating to levees on the Mississippi River can be found by searching our catalog.

*The links to these catalog entries are currently broken. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Donna Anoskey and Dan Rooney contributed to this post.

Years ago many government agencies, along with Hollywood and independent film makers, stored film productions with the private laboratories that provided their duplication services. In 2001, one of the premier film facilities on the East Coast, in business for over 50 years, went bankrupt, still in possession of tens of thousands of reels of film, including hundreds of titles made by government agencies. The company that purchased the property agreed to try to locate the rightful owners of the films and in 2006 they contacted the National Archives, as well as the Library of Congress, Hollywood studios and others to come identify and reclaim their film.

Almost a year later NARA sent several staff members on an initial visit to identify government films that could be accessioned into our holdings. However, lack of good lighting, poorly identified cans and no access to an inventory made it extremely difficult. During several trips NARA staff were able to identify, segregate, pull, inventory, and prepare for shipment all of the positively identified Federal productions. On the second trip new problems had arisen; leaking roofs and suspension of climate controls in the vaults increased preservation concerns.

In September 2007 more than 3,000 titles in 5,000 film cans, representing over 30 federal agencies, were shipped to the National Archives. Once they arrived, we started the process of sorting through them, obtaining legal custody from the originating agencies, and preparing them for long-term storage.

These rescued films made up the first project I worked on in the Motion Picture Branch. It was fascinating determining what agencies the films had originally come from and whether we had copies of the films in our holdings or if they were new to us. In my head I kept a list of the really cool things I came across, waiting for the opportunity to share them. Here are some of my favorites:

Smokey and the Little Boy (Local Identifier: 16-P-1147/National Archives Identifier: 2151)

This is a very dramatic animated film about the danger of working in oxygen-deficient conditions:

Two Breaths To…. (Local Identifier: 434-GENERAL-865/National Archives Identifier: 4487046)

Willy Whistle Television Spot: Curbs (Local Identifier: 416-PI-5/National Archives Identifier: 4499494)

After the Applause (Local Identifier: 235-WRS-2/National Archives Identifier: 4747978)

Check out more rescued films in this playlist.