The 957th Day

The 957th Day
Produced by United States Navy
Release dates
  • 1944 (1944)
Running time
 10 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The 957th Day was a propaganda short produced by the US Navy in 1944.

The film uses authentic battle footage of the taking of Guam on July 21, 1944, and one narration follows the battle chronologically, while another narration mimics a radio news caster voice. The newscaster related mundane activities like baseball standings, what song is on the top of the charts, and weather, but also news relative to the war effort, like the amount of steel that Pittsburgh has shipped, the monthly Selective Service quota, and the news that one worker got a medal for not missing one day of work since Dec. 8, 1941. This is all superimposed on some very graphic combat footage.

The combat footage is compiled from several days of fighting and actually begins with ships readying for the invasion at Eniwetok (in June). The bombardment of the island lasted for thirteen days and the invasion of Guam was the beginning of a much longer battle. This movie leads the viewer to believe that the island was secured on July 21, 1944, when in fact the island was not declared secure until August 10, 1944 after the loss of nearly 19,000 dead between the two sides.

See also


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.