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“Air Evac” (1969) is a color, promotional and fundraising film made by the American Red Cross during the Vietnam War. The film is about the volunteer Red Cross nurses who cared for wounded American GIs as they returned home from Vietnam and other air bases around the world like in Japan, Hawaii, the Philippines, and Alaska. Hosted by actor James Stewart (who served in the U.S. Army in WWII as a private and at the end of WWII was a colonel in the Army Air Corps), the film opens by highlighting the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter whose job it was to bring wounded and ill servicemen home from Vietnam. The film then depicts various scenes of Red Cross nurses at work at The Ponderosa outside of Washington D.C. where they nursed soldiers back to health and helped reunite them with their families. Lockheed C-141 Starlifter (AF Ser. No. 64-0622), 438th Military Airlift Wing, MAC, 1966 plane navigates tarmac, wounded and ill servicemen brought off plane (0:08). Lockheed C-141 Starlifter in background, host James Stewart addresses audience and introduces film: work of American Red Cross Volunteers while standing on tarmac of Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland; other domestic bases US Travis Air Force Base San Francisco, Scott Air Force Base in Illinois (0:35). Title text, credits overlaid close-up of empennage of Lockheed C-141 Starlifter (1:55). Archival photographs while credits continue: Red Cross volunteer nurse offers medicine, paper cup with water to returning GIs laying on make-shift bunk beds (2:00). Two nurses stretch patients arm while they lay in hospital bed (2:05). Interview with returned wounded Army Sergeant Irvin Dan from hospital bed at Walter Reed Hospital, Washington; shows off model airplanes (2:12). Perhaps Bell UH-1 Iroquois Medevac helicopter lands at evacuation hospital in Vietnam, medics rush to offload wounded GI on stretcher (3:02). American National Red Cross cardboard box of toiletries given to GI about to return home (3:13). Medics transport wounded GI from Red Cross vehicle to Lockheed C-141 Starlifter (3:22). Interview with Army Sergeant Irvin Dan continues (3:27). Young female Red Cross volunteer nurses watch as Lockheed C-141 Starlifter lands, approach plane with cart of medical supplies, refreshments and hand them out to GIs on board (3:48). Hearse drives in front of Andrews Air Force Base garage (4:15). Montage medics carefully taking stretchers of wounded GIs off of Lockheed C-141 Starlifter at Andrews Air Force Base; mobile Red Cross medic military Hospital Bus drives off (4:30). Signs for The Ponderosa/ 10th Casualty Staging Flight Headquarters Command for the United States Air Force (USAF) (4:56). GI sits up in hospital bed, talks to a volunteer nurse; interview with this nurse as she explains how volunteer program at Andrews Air Force Base works (5:12). Close-up nurses scramble to write paperwork at nurses’ station (5:53). (6:08). Interview with nurse Bonnie Davis about personal day-to-day (6:08). Bonnie and other nurses work on patient forms from nurses’ station (6:37). Nurse uses wall-mounted rotary dial phone to call loved ones of returned GIs at hospital; soldier talks to mom on phone from hospital bed (7:14). Nurse wheels cart of refreshments, toiletries through ward: hands GIs cookies, bottles of Coca Cola (9:04). Continuation of interview with Army Sergeant Irvin Dan (9:57). Return to James Stewart on tarmac, closing words (10:25). We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.“ This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit
