From Jamestown and the Revolution to Omaha Beach and the Pacific
About This Footage
Reel 1 of War Comes to America (1945), the final film in Frank Capra’s Why We Fight series, links America’s formative history to its role in World War II. The reel opens with children pledging allegiance before cutting to combat footage from New Guinea, the South Pacific, and the Omaha Beach landings in Normandy. These wartime scenes are interwoven with defining moments of American history: the Jamestown colony, the American Revolution, the hardships of Valley Forge, the drafting of the Constitution, and the westward expansion that united 48 states. The narrative builds toward WWII aerial combat, with a B-29 waist gunner downing a German fighter, and concludes with the Statue of Liberty standing as a symbol of freedom and resilience. This reel captures the continuity of America’s struggle for independence and its global defense of democracy against Axis powers.