Season 8, Episode 7

Elyse: THIS WEEK ON AN ENCORE PRESENTATION OF HISTORY DETECTIVES, IS THIS A MISSING MURDER WEAPON FROM THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE?

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHOOT IT?

Wes: HOW DID THIS RECENTLY DISCOVERED PORTRAIT OF OUR FIRST PRESIDENT AID AN ABOLITIONIST'S CAUSE?

"ANXIOUS TO PROMOTE THE HAPPINESS OF THE POOR AFRICANS."

Eduardo: AND WHAT STORY DOES THIS DRAWING TELL OF LIFE IN A GERMAN P.O.W.

CAMP?

THIS IS A TREASURE, A RARE ONE.

Elvis Costello: ♪ WATCHIN' THE DETECTIVES ♪ ♪ I GET SO ANGRY WHEN THE TEARDROPS START ♪ ♪ BUT HE CAN'T BE WOUNDED 'CAUSE HE'S GOT NO HEART ♪ ♪ WATCHIN' THE DETECTIVES ♪ ♪ IT'S JUST LIKE WATCHIN' THE DETECTIVES ♪ ♪ WATCHIN' THE DETECTIVES ♪ Elyse: OUR FIRST STORY INVESTIGATES A WEAPON THAT MAY HAVE BEEN FIRED IN ONE OF THE NATION'S MOST INFAMOUS CRIMES.

FEBRUARY 14, 1929, ST. VALENTINE'S DAY: GANGSTERS TURN A DAY OF LOVE AND REFLECTION INTO A BLOODBATH, EXECUTING SEVEN MEN IN A CHICAGO GARAGE.

[ machine gun firing ] AUTHORITIES SUSPECT THE HAND OF POWERFUL GANGSTER AL CAPONE, WHO WAS FIGHTING TO CONTROL THE CITY'S ILLEGAL LIQUOR TRADE.

THE DAYLIGHT KILLING OUTRAGES THE NATION AND BECOMES A SYMBOL OF THE FAILURE OF PROHIBITION.

HOWEVER, NO ONE IS EVER CONVICTED OF THE KILLING AND THE CRIME REMAINS UNSOLVED.

NOW MIKE LUX OF LAKE GENEVA, WISCONSIN, BELIEVES HE HAS THE MISSING WEAPON FROM THIS LEGENDARY GANGLAND MASSACRE.

THIS GUN MAY HAVE TAKEN THE LIVES OF TWO MEN.

I'M ON MY WAY TO MEET MIKE AND LOOK INTO HIS STORY.

VERY NICE TO MEET YOU.

OH, WOW!

12-GAUGE SHOTGUN.

LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT IT.

AND WHAT'S THE STORY BEHIND IT?

IT WAS SUPPOSEDLY USED IN THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE.

THAT WAS IN CHICAGO IN 1929.

YES.

YOU KNOW, JUST BY LOOKING AT THE GUN, TO ME IT KIND OF LOOKS LIKE THE BARREL IS NOT PERIOD TO THE PIECE.

CORRECT.

I HAD THIS BARREL PUT ON TO MAKE IT LEGAL.

ORIGINALLY THE BARREL WAS CUT OFF PROBABLY ABOUT RIGHT HERE.

AND I ACTUALLY HAVE A COUPLE PICTURES OF IT.

OH, AND I CAN SEE THE BARREL WAS MUCH SHORTER.

MIKE TELLS ME THAT SHORT-BARREL SHOTGUNS ARE FEDERALLY REGULATED AND THAT HE PUT A LONGER BARREL ON THE GUN TO COMPLY WITH THESE RULES.

HOW'D YOU GET THE GUN?

I HAD INHERITED IT FROM MY FATHER WHEN HE PASSED AWAY.

MIKE SAYS HIS FATHER GOT THE GUN FROM A FORMER CHICAGO FIRE COMMISSIONER, ROBERT QUINN.

MIKE BELIEVES THAT QUINN, WHO IS NOW DECEASED, MAY HAVE USED HIS INFLUENCE TO SECRETLY ACQUIRE THE GUN.

I THINK WHEN QUINN ACQUIRED IT, IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN IN THE MID-'70s.

MIKE'S FATHER WAS KILLED IN AN AIR CRASH IN 1979.

TWO DAYS LATER, ONE OF HIS FRIENDS TALKED TO ME, AND HE WAS VERY UPSET ABOUT THE PLANE CRASH, BUT HE WAS ALSO VERY WORRIED THAT NOW I OWN THIS PIECE AND HE DIDN'T WANT ME TO BE SHOWING IT OFF OR TELLING ANYBODY ABOUT IT, AND I HAVEN'T.

THAT'S WHY I'VE HAD IT FOR 30 YEARS HIDDEN AWAY.

WHAT'D YOU THINK WHEN YOUR DAD TOLD YOU THAT THIS WAS USED IN THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE?

I THOUGHT, "COME ON, YOU'RE PULLING MY LEG."

AND HE WAS DEAD SERIOUS.

AND HE WAS A SERIOUS KIND OF GUY.

WHEN IT CAME TO WEAPONS LIKE THIS IN HIS COLLECTION, HE WAS NOT FOOLING.

MIKE, WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW?

IF IT TRULY IS THE SHOTGUN THAT WAS USED AT THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE.

I WILL SEE WHAT I CAN FIND OUT.

DO YOU MIND IF I SIT HERE FOR A WHILE AND EVALUATE IT?

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

I USED TO WORK IN THE GUN DEPARTMENT AT CHRISTIE'S, SO I KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT GUNS.

AND THE FIRST THING I NEED TO DETERMINE WAS IF THIS GUN WAS EVEN AROUND IN 1929.

WAS IT PERIOD TO THE TIME OF THE MASSACRE?

IT CERTAINLY APPEARS TO BE.

THE WOODEN FORESTOCK IS FOR A REPEATING, OR PUMP-ACTION, SHOTGUN.

THAT MEANS IT CAN FIRE MULTIPLE SHOTS WITHOUT RELOADING.

I KNOW THAT THERE IS A SERIAL NUMBER HERE.

AH, HERE IT IS: 18514 B.

THAT MAY HELP US MORE PRECISELY DATE THE GUN, ALTHOUGH BACK THEN I'M PRETTY CERTAIN A PURCHASER WAS NOT REQUIRED TO REGISTER THEIR WEAPON.

I SEE THAT IT SAYS "WESTERN FIELD" ON THE PLATE.

YOU KNOW, I DID NOTICE SOMETHING UNUSUAL OVER HERE ON THE STOCK.

THERE ARE TWO NOTCHES.

MAYBE WE COULD GET SOME INFORMATION FROM THAT AS WELL.

IF THIS GUN REALLY WAS USED IN THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE, THEN IT'S AN EXCEPTIONAL PIECE OF HISTORY AND ITS COLLECTION VALUE WOULD BE VERY HIGH.

ON THE MORNING OF FEBRUARY 14, 1929, SEVEN IMMACULATELY DRESSED MEN GATHERED IN A GARAGE ON CHICAGO'S NORTH SIDE.

SOME WERE MEMBERS OF A GANG LED BY THE NOTORIOUS BOOTLEGGER BUGS MORAN.

WITHOUT WARNING, GUNMEN STORMED IN AND UNLEASHED A HAIL OF BULLETS THAT LEFT ALL SEVEN DEAD.

WITNESSES REPORTED SEEING WHAT LOOKED LIKE TWO POLICE OFFICERS LEAVE THE GARAGE.

THE MID-MORNING SLAUGHTER TURNED THE MEDIA SPOTLIGHT ON THE CITY OF CHICAGO AND THE VIOLENT STRUGGLE BEING WAGED OVER CONTROL OF THE ILLEGAL LIQUOR TRADE.

I'M IN CHICAGO TO MEET THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, ART BILEK.

HI, ART.

HERE IS THE GUN.

TELL ME YOUR OPINION ON THAT.

WHAT DO I HAVE HERE?

IT'S A 12-GAUGE SHOTGUN... ART IS ALSO A FORMER POLICE OFFICER AND FAMILIAR WITH THE WEAPONS OF CHOICE OF CRIMINALS.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT HAS A SAWED-OFF STOCK.

GANGSTERS IN THE 1920s HAD THESE STOCKS MODIFIED SO THAT THEY COULD CARRY THESE UNDER THEIR OVERCOATS LIKE THIS.

SO IT'S A GANGSTER GUN?

OH, YES.

IN FACT, THAT'S THE WAY I WOULD REFER TO IT, AS A GANGSTER GUN.

ART SAYS EXACTLY HOW THE VICTIMS WERE LURED TO THEIR DEATH WAS NEVER ESTABLISHED.

INVESTIGATORS SUSPECTED THE PHONY POLICEMEN WERE AL CAPONE GANG MEMBERS.

WHEN THEY ORDERED THE RIVAL GANGSTERS TO LINE UP AND TURN AROUND, MORE CAPONE MEN ENTERED, CARRYING WEAPONS.

WE DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT WENT ON EXCEPT TWO OF THE MEN PULLED OUT THOMPSON SUBMACHINE GUNS AND BEGAN RIDDLING THE BACK OF THESE SEVEN MEN WITH MACHINE-GUN BULLETS.

GETTING INFORMATION ABOUT THE CRIME WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE.

THE CHICAGO UNDERWORLD WAS RULED BY FEAR.

BEFORE DYING, ONE OF THE VICTIMS, FRANK GUSENBERG, TOLD INCREDULOUS POLICE, "NOBODY SHOT ME."

INVESTIGATORS TURNED TO EVIDENCE FROM THE BLOOD-DRENCHED GARAGE.

SERGEANT JAMES LOFTUS, WHO WAS THE FIRST OFFICER ON THE SCENE, WAS ABLE TO COLLECT FROM THE SCENE SEVERAL ITEMS.

HERE IS A COPY OF THE INVENTORY REPORT THAT HE FILED THAT VERY DAY.

THERE WERE SEVERAL .45-CALIBER SHELLS AND BULLETS, THE SIZE OF AMMUNITION USED IN THE TOMMY GUN.

ART POINTS OUT SOMETHING OF PARTICULAR INTEREST.

AND THERE IS THE ITEM RIGHT THERE: TWO SHOTGUN SHELLS, 12-GAUGE.

THAT'S THE SAME GAUGE AS MIKE'S GUN.

I TELL ART THAT MIKE BELIEVES HIS WEAPON ONCE BELONGED TO ROBERT QUINN, A FORMER CHICAGO FIRE COMMISSIONER IN THE 1950s THROUGH THE 1970s.

HE WAS ONE OF THE MORE NOTABLE FIRE COMMISSIONERS IN THE HISTORY OF CHICAGO.

HE SAYS QUINN WAS PART OF AN INNER CIRCLE AROUND THE MAYOR IN A PERIOD WHEN CONTROL OF EVIDENCE, ESPECIALLY FOR A CELEBRATED COLD CASE, WAS NOT NEARLY AS TIGHTLY HELD AS TODAY.

DO YOU THINK THAT HE COULD HAVE OWNED THIS GUN?

HE KNEW ALL OF THE TOP OFFICIALS.

HE WOULD HAVE KNOWN THE CORONER VERY WELL.

AND HE WOULD HAVE KNOWN OTHER PEOPLE IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.

IT'S ENTIRELY POSSIBLE THAT ONE WAY OR ANOTHER HE MIGHT HAVE MET A MAN THAT HAD POSSESSION OF THIS GUN.

ART SAYS THE DESCRIPTION OF TWO OF THE KILLERS DRESSED IN POLICE UNIFORMS TURNED UP THE HEAT ON INVESTIGATORS, BUT IT WASN'T UNTIL TEN MONTHS LATER THAT THEY CAUGHT A BREAK: AN AL CAPONE ASSOCIATE NAMED FRED "KILLER" BURKE WAS INVOLVED IN A FENDER BENDER ACROSS STATE LINES IN MICHIGAN.

WELL, THERE WAS A POLICE OFFICER ON THE NEXT CORNER, AND HE BEGAN WALKING DOWN.

WITH THAT, KILLER BURKE DRIVES OFF, THE POLICEMAN JUMPS ON THE RUNNING BOARD, BURKE TAKES OUT HIS GUN AND SHOOTS HIM.

THE OFFICER TUMBLES TO THE GROUND DEAD.

A HUGE MANHUNT FOLLOWS, AND THAT'S HOW THEY FOUND BURKE'S CAR OVERTURNED WHERE HE TRIED TO MAKE A TURN IN THE ROAD AND FAILED.

ART EXPLAINS THAT BURKE WAS A CAREER GANGSTER AND HIT MAN.

A WORLD WAR I VET, HE WAS SUSPECTED OF INTRODUCING THE THOMPSON SUBMACHINE GUN TO THE DETROIT MOB, HELPING MURDER THREE MEN IN 1927.

IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY KILLINGS, BURKE WAS HOLED UP IN A SMALL MICHIGAN TOWN.

AFTER KILLING THE OFFICER, POLICE RAIDED HIS HIDEOUT.

AND UPSTAIRS ON THE SECOND FLOOR, THEY OPENED A CLOSET AND THERE WERE THE TWO MACHINE GUNS, A SHOTGUN, AND SOME OTHER ARMORY-TYPE DEVICES.

FORENSIC ANALYSIS WOULD LATER CONNECT SOME OF FRED BURKE'S WEAPONS TO THE MASSACRE.

WHERE ARE THOSE GUNS NOW?

THE GUNS AT THE CURRENT TIME ARE BEING HELD BY THE BERRIEN COUNTY, MICHIGAN, SHERIFF'S OFFICE, WHERE THEY WERE RECOVERED IN THE FIRST PLACE.

I'M IN BERRIEN COUNTY TO MEET WITH LIEUTENANT KEITH HAFER, THE WEAPONS EXPERT IN CHARGE OF THE MASSACRE GUNS.

WOW.

THESE ARE THE TWO THOMPSON SUBMACHINE GUNS USED IN THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE.

LIEUTENANT HAFER EXPLAINS THAT FOR YEARS, THE GUNS WERE HELD BY THE FBI AT THEIR BALLISTICS CRIME LAB IN QUANTICO, VIRGINIA.

IN THE LATE 1970s, A MICHIGAN DETECTIVE TRAINING WITH THE FBI SPOTTED THE GUNS AND ASKED FOR THEIR RETURN.

ARE THESE THE ONLY GUNS THAT YOU HAVE?

THERE WERE OTHER GUNS SEIZED FROM FRED BURKE'S HOME, BUT THOSE GUNS ARE LONG GONE AND I HAVE NO RECORD OF THEM.

WELL, I'M INVESTIGATING THIS SHOTGUN THAT I BELIEVE MAY HAVE BEEN USED AT THE MASSACRE.

IT'S CERTAINLY THE RIGHT AGE AND IT LOOKS LIKE A GANGSTER GUN.

WHAT I NOTICE IMMEDIATELY ARE THESE TWO NOTCHES CUT INTO THE PISTOL GRIP OF THIS SHOTGUN.

LIEUTENANT HAFER SAYS CRIMINALS SOMETIMES CARVED NOTCHES ON THEIR WEAPONS WHEN THEY KILLED A MAN.

AND THE THOMPSONS THAT WE HAVE HAVE NOTCHES CARVED INTO THE TRIGGER GUARDS.

HE'S NOT SURE IF THE MARKINGS CAN CONNECT OUR GUN TO THE MASSACRE BUT OFFERS TO TAKE ME TO THE FIRING RANGE TO SHOW EXACTLY WHY OUR GUN AND THE TOMMY GUN WOULD HAVE BEEN FAVORITE GANGSTER WEAPONS.

FIRE!

HIT HIM RIGHT IN THE CHEST, KEEP GOING.

THE TOMMY GUN CAN FIRE CONTINUOUSLY.

IT'S PRETTY POWERFUL.

LIEUTENANT HAFER SAYS THIS MODEL TOMMY GUN COULD UNLOAD A DEVASTATING 700 ROUNDS A MINUTE.

I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY A GANGSTER LIKES THAT GUN.

IT WAS THE HIGH-TECH WEAPON OF ITS DAY.

HE TELLS ME THAT BEFORE THE INTRODUCTION OF THE TOMMY GUN TO THE CHICAGO CRIME WORLD IN 1924, THE REPEATING SHOTGUN WAS THE GANGSTER GUN OF CHOICE.

WHAT YOU HAVE HERE IS A PUMP-ACTION REPEATING SHOTGUN, WHICH WAS A VERY COMMON AND DEVASTATING WEAPON OF THE TIME.

OUR GUN IS CAPABLE OF FIRING SIX SHOTS BEFORE RELOADING, UNLEASHING A DEVASTATING SPRAY OF SHOTGUN PELLETS.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHOOT IT?

YEAH, DEFINITELY.

PULL IT IN TIGHT, YEP.

AIM AT YOUR TARGET AND SHOOT WHEN READY.

[ gunshots and reloading ] WOW, THAT'S GOT QUITE A KICK TO IT.

WHY DON'T YOU OPEN THE BOLT AND MAKE SURE IT'S EMPTY.

OKAY.

DO YOU THINK THIS GUN WAS USED IN THE ST. VALENTINE MASSACRE?

IT'S CERTAINLY A POSSIBILITY.

LIEUTENANT HAFER SUGGESTS I PICK UP THE SHELL CASINGS.

IF OUR GUN WAS USED IN THE MASSACRE, THE SHELLS MAY BEAR USEFUL FORENSIC INFORMATION.

HE'S NOT SURE WHAT REMAINS IN THE OLD POLICE FILES BUT SUGGESTS I SPEAK WITH POLICE HISTORIAN CHRISS LYON AT THE HERITAGE MUSEUM AND CULTURAL CENTER IN ST. JOSEPH.

HI, CHRISS.

HI, ELYSE.

GREAT TO MEET YOU, WELCOME TO ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN.

THANK YOU.

CHRISS SAYS THE POLICE FOUND A TROVE OF INCRIMINATING EVIDENCE WHEN THEY RAIDED FRED BURKE'S HIDEOUT.

THIS ONE IS ONE OF THE ORIGINAL PHOTOS OF SOME OF THE WEAPONRY THAT WAS FOUND IN FRED BURKE'S HOUSE.

OKAY, SO I SEE HERE THE TWO TOMMY GUNS THAT WERE FOUND IN HIS HOUSE.

AND THIS IS ALL THE ARSENAL.

AND THIS MUST BE THE SHOTGUN.

CHRISS EXPLAINS HOW THE CHICAGO AUTHORITIES HAD TURNED TO A FORENSICS EXPERT NAMED CALVIN GODDARD TO EXAMINE THE BURKE WEAPONS.

WHEN GODDARD TOOK THESE GUNS TO BE TESTED BALLISTICALLY, HE TOOK THE TOMMY GUNS AND HE TOOK THIS GUN, WHICH IS A 20-GAUGE.

NOW, WE KNOW THAT THERE WAS A 12-GAUGE USED IN THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE BY THE SHELLS THAT WERE FOUND.

SO IF THIS GUN WASN'T USED IN THE MASSACRE, THEN IT'S STILL POSSIBLE THAT OUR GUN WAS.

I'M CURIOUS, HAD GODDARD ALSO EXAMINED THE 12-GAUGE SHELLS FOUND AT THE CRIME SCENE AFTER THE MASSACRE?

CHRISS SUGGESTS I SPEAK WITH FORMER CRIME LAB DIRECTOR PAUL DOUGHERTY, WHO HAS STUDIED THE MASSACRE AND THE SUBSEQUENT POLICE DETECTIVE WORK.

OKAY, SO HERE'S THE GUN I TALKED TO YOU ABOUT.

YES.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

THIS IS A WESTERN FIELD, WHICH IS MADE BY STEVENS.

IT HAS A FAIRLY LOW SERIAL NUMBER, WHICH INDICATES IT'S FAIRLY OLD.

PAUL SAYS THE MODEL WAS IN PRODUCTION FROM 1905 TO 1932 AND PERIOD TO THE MASSACRE.

HOWEVER, HE CAN'T PRECISELY DATE THE GUN BECAUSE THE MANUFACTURER'S SERIAL RECORDS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED.

SO TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT GODDARD.

WELL, CALVIN GODDARD WAS A FIRST-CLASS SCIENTIST AND HE APPROACHED EVERYTHING THAT HE DID AS A SCIENTIST.

PAUL SAYS GODDARD TRAINED AS A PHYSICIAN, BUT IN 1926, ENTERED THE EMERGING FIELD OF BALLISTIC SCIENCE.

HIS FORENSIC WORK, WHICH HELPED CONVICT ANARCHIST NICOLA SACCO IN THE CELEBRATED SACCO AND VANZETTI MURDER CASE, CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF THE CHICAGO CORONER.

IT WAS THE ENORMITY OF THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE THAT BROUGHT THE NEED FOR SCIENTIFIC CRIME DETECTION TO THE PUBLIC ATTENTION AND TO THE ATTENTION OF AUTHORITIES OF CHICAGO.

GODDARD TEST-FIRED THE BURKE RAID TOMMY GUNS AND COMPARED THE SHELLS TO THOSE FROM THE SCENE OF THE CRIME.

HE EXPLAINED TO THE CHICAGO INVESTIGATORS HOW SPENT SHELLS HAD THEIR OWN IDENTIFYING MARKS.

HE WOULD PUT THE CARTRIDGE CASES UNDER THE COMPARISON MICROSCOPE, ONE ON EITHER SIDE.

THEN HE COMPARED THEM THROUGH THE EYEPIECE, WHICH IS HERE.

SO, PAUL, TELL ME WHAT I'M LOOKING AT.

USING A REPLICA OF GODDARD'S MICROSCOPE, PAUL TELLS ME TO COMPARE THE IMPRESSIONS ON TWO SHELLS FROM GODDARD'S PERSONAL COLLECTION.

SO THE FIRING PIN IMPRESSIONS ARE THE SAME.

BY MATCHING FIRING PIN IMPRESSIONS, GODDARD DETERMINED THAT FRED BURKE'S TOMMY GUNS WERE USED IN THE MASSACRE.

SO THESE CAME FROM THE SAME GUN.

WELL, I HAVE THESE SHELLS, AND I SHOT THESE SHELLS FROM MIKE'S GUN.

PAUL OFFERS TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK.

ALTHOUGH THE CARTRIDGE SHELLS FROM THE CRIME SCENE ARE LONG GONE, HE SAYS GODDARD DID EXAMINE THEM AND TESTIFIED IN FRONT OF THE CORONER'S GRAND JURY.

THE CHARACTERISTICS THAT GODDARD EMPHASIZED IN HIS TESTIMONY, THOUGH, WERE THE EXTRACTOR AND EJECTOR MARKS.

EXTRACTOR MARKS ARE THE MARKINGS THAT OCCUR WHEN A SHELL IS IN THE CHAMBER OF A GUN AND IS EXTRACTED FROM THE CHAMBER, AND AN EJECTOR MARKING OCCURS WHEN THE SHELL IS KICKED OUT OF THE GUN.

WE TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT OUR SHELLS.

OH, THOSE TWO LITTLE SCRATCHES?

THAT IS CORRECT.

I SEE THEM.

WHAT PAUL TELLS ME NEXT IS CERTAINLY GOING TO BE OF INTEREST TO MIKE.

INVESTIGATORS FOUND BULLETS AND SHELLS AT THE SCENE OF THE CRIME, AND TWO OF THOSE SHELLS WERE FROM A 12-GAUGE SHOTGUN, THE SAME GAUGE AS YOUR SHOTGUN.

THAT GETS US VERY CLOSE.

I TELL MIKE THAT THE STRANGE CARVED NOTCHES ON HIS WEAPON COULD HAVE BEEN A GANGSTER SIGNATURE, INDICATING THE WEAPON HAD BEEN USED IN A MURDER.

SIMILAR MARKINGS HAD ALSO BEEN SEEN ON THE THOMPSON SUBMACHINE GUNS USED IN THE MASSACRE.

ALTHOUGH MISSING EVIDENCE MADE A DIRECT COMPARISON WITH HIS SHELLS IMPOSSIBLE TODAY, AT THE TIME OF THE MASSACRE, THE EXPERT BROUGHT IN BY THE AUTHORITIES HAD CONDUCTED A THOROUGH FORENSIC INVESTIGATION.

GODDARD DID CLOSELY EXAMINE THE SHELLS THAT WERE FOUND AT THE SCENE OF THE CRIME, AND HE MADE A PRETTY INTERESTING DISCOVERY.

THESE ARE THE TYPES OF MARKINGS THAT GODDARD FOUND ON THE SHELLS FROM THE SCENE OF THE CRIME.

GODDARD HAD DETERMINED THAT THE SHOTGUN USED IN THE MURDER OF SEVEN MEN ON ST. VALENTINE'S DAY, 1929, WAS A PUMP-ACTION GUN, TOO, THE SAME AS MIKE'S.

SO IN YOUR OPINION, COULD THIS GUN HAVE BEEN USED IN THE MASSACRE?

YES.

IT IS THE RIGHT VINTAGE.

IT HAS BOTH THE EXTRACTOR AND EJECTOR MARKINGS WHICH GODDARD IDENTIFIED.

WE CAN PROVE THAT THE GUN THAT WAS SHOT THAT DAY WAS A 12-GAUGE REPEATING SHOTGUN.

YOUR GUN IS A 12-GAUGE REPEATING SHOTGUN.

RIGHT, RIGHT.

THAT'S GREAT.

I TELL MIKE THERE ARE NO SURVIVING POLICE RECORDS OF ANY OTHER SHOTGUN BEING RECOVERED BY POLICE AND TIED TO THE KILLINGS.

WHILE WE CAN'T CONCLUSIVELY LINK YOUR GUN TO THE MASSACRE, NO EVIDENCE RULES IT OUT.

VERY INTERESTING.

SO IF THE ORIGINAL SHELLS SURFACE, THEN WE WOULD BE ABLE TO FINISH GODDARD'S WORK AND DETERMINE IF YOUR GUN FIRED THEM.

HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR FATHER WOULD FEEL, THE FACT THAT WE'VE COME THIS FAR?

HE WOULD BE ECSTATIC.

HE WOULD SAY, "I TOLD YOU SO."

THANK YOU, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

FRED BURKE WAS NEVER CONVICTED FOR THE MASSACRE.

INSTEAD, HE WAS PUT AWAY FOR KILLING POLICE OFFICER CHARLES SKELLY.

CAPONE WAS EVENTUALLY BROUGHT DOWN ON CHARGES OF TAX EVASION.

BUT GODDARD'S WORK BROUGHT CREDIBILITY TO THE YOUNG FIELD OF BALLISTICS.

HE WAS GIVEN RESOURCES TO OPEN ONE OF THE NATION'S FIRST INDEPENDENT CRIME LABS AND CONTINUED TO PIONEER TECHNIQUES THAT ARE STILL USED TODAY.

THE GUN THAT MADE THE '20s ROAR WAS INSPIRED BY WORLD WAR I TRENCH WARFARE.

THE THOMPSON SUBMACHINE GUN WAS DESIGNED BY RETIRED GENERAL JOHN THOMPSON.

EARLY MACHINE GUNS WERE EXTREMELY HEAVY AND TOOK SEVERAL MEN TO OPERATE.

THOMPSON'S SOLUTION WAS A RAPID-FIRING WEAPON OPERATED BY A SINGLE SOLDIER.

THE "TRENCH BROOM" WAS DESIGNED TO SWEEP THE ENEMY OUT OF FOXHOLES.

BUT THE GUN WASN'T READY UNTIL AFTER THE WAR ENDED, SO THE GENERAL TRIED SELLING IT TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC.

ONE NOTORIOUS AD FEATURED A COWBOY DEFENDING HIS RANCH FROM BANDITS.

DEEMED SIMPLE, SAFE, STURDY, AND SURE IN ACTION, AN ORIGINAL TOMMY COULD FIRE 1,500 ROUNDS PER MINUTE.

GANGSTERS SAW THE POTENTIAL.

THE GUN WAS SUCH A FAVORITE OF THE CHICAGO MOB THAT IT WAS ALSO KNOWN AS THE CHICAGO TYPEWRITER, THE CHICAGO PIANO, AND THE CHICAGO ORGAN GRINDER.

FOR CONCEALMENT, THE COMPACT GUN COULD BE TOTED AROUND IN A REFITTED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT CASE.

THE THOMPSON DID MAKE IT TO THE BATTLEFIELD IN WORLD WAR II.

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS WERE ORDERED AT A COST OF NEARLY $130 MILLION TOTAL.

BY THE END OF THE WAR, LIGHTER AND CHEAPER COMPETITORS ENDED THE TOMMY'S REIGN.

Wes: OUR NEXT STORY TAKES US TO THE HEART OF MANHATTAN TO INVESTIGATE A TINY PORTRAIT WHICH MAY LIE AT THE CENTER OF SOME VERY BIG HISTORY.

IT'S SPRING 1789: 20,000 PHILADELPHIANS PACK THE STREETS TO CATCH A GLIMPSE OF THEIR NATION'S LEADER EN ROUTE TO NEW YORK.

FIRST IN WAR AND FIRST IN PEACE, GEORGE WASHINGTON HAS BEEN ELECTED PRESIDENT, AND AS HIS INAUGURAL PROCESSION FORGES NORTH, AMERICA CELEBRATES FREEDOM FROM BRITISH RULE.

BUT FOR THE THOUSANDS OF ENSLAVED AFRICAN AMERICANS WATCHING THE PARADE, LIBERTY IS NOWHERE IN SIGHT.

IF PRESIDENT WASHINGTON WON'T PAVE THEIR WAY TO CITIZENSHIP, WHO WILL?

TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEARS LATER, DAVE COX OF GREENVILLE, OHIO, STUMBLED ONTO A TINY PAINTING WHICH MAY SHED LIGHT ON THE YOUNG NATION'S STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM.

I CAME LOOKING FOR A DRAWING, BUT I FOUND SOMETHING THAT MAY BE A WHOLE LOT MORE EXCITING.

DAVE HAS ASKED ME TO MEET HIM AT THE NEARLY 250-YEAR-OLD FRAUNCES TAVERN IN LOWER MANHATTAN.

UPSTAIRS HOUSES A MUSEUM WHERE HE MADE HIS DISCOVERY.

HEY, DAVE.

HEY, WES.

DAVE AND TWO BUDDIES HAD TRAVELED FROM OHIO TO MANHATTAN TO FIND A HISTORIC MAP OF FORT GREENVILLE.

THEY WERE HOPING TO FIND IT IN THE ARCHIVES OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR LIEUTENANT HENRY BURBECK, KEPT HERE AT THE FRAUNCES TAVERN MUSEUM.

UNFORTUNATELY, WE DIDN'T FIND THAT, BUT WE CAME UP WITH SOMETHING ELSE.

WOW, THAT IS A FABULOUS PORTRAIT.

I CAN SEE IT SAYS "G. WASHINGTON" ACROSS THIS RIBBON AT THE BOTTOM.

AND I SAID, "HEY, GUYS, IT MIGHT BE SIGNIFICANT."

DAVE SAYS THAT THE MUSEUM STAFF HAD NO IDEA THE PORTRAIT WAS IN THEIR COLLECTION, BUT THEY GAVE HIM THE OKAY TO DO FURTHER RESEARCH.

HAVE YOU TAKEN IT OUT OF THE FRAME?

YES, THERE'S SOMETHING RIGHT BACK HERE.

"PROPERTY OF WHITE MATLACK, 1790, NEW YORK."

OKAY, SO WHO'S WHITE MATLACK?

WE DON'T KNOW WHO HE IS.

I KNOW THAT BURBECK AND WASHINGTON WERE TOGETHER AT VALLEY FORGE, SO THEY MAY HAVE KNOWN EACH OTHER QUITE WELL, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHO THIS GUY IS.

WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANT ME TO FIND OUT?

WELL, WE'D LIKE TO KNOW IF THIS IS AN ORIGINAL PAINTING OF GEORGE WASHINGTON FROM THAT TIME PERIOD, AND WE'D ALSO LIKE TO KNOW WHO WHITE MATLACK IS.

WELL, DAVE, IF THIS IS A PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN FROM-LIFE PORTRAIT OF GEORGE WASHINGTON, IT'S A NATIONAL TREASURE.

I'LL LET YOU KNOW WHAT I FIND OUT.

SUZANNE PRABUCKI IS THE CURATOR OF THE FRAUNCES TAVERN MUSEUM.

SUZANNE WAS JUST AS SURPRISED AS DAVE TO SEE THE PORTRAIT.

WE'RE RUN BY THE SONS OF THE REVOLUTION, AND SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE, THE HENRY BURBECK BOXES WERE PUT INTO THE SONS' ARCHIVES INSTEAD OF THE MUSEUM'S ARCHIVES, SO THEY WERE VERY RECENTLY REDISCOVERED, AND THE PAINTING WAS IN THOSE BOXES.

SUZANNE'S NOT FAMILIAR WITH WHITE MATLACK AND SAYS THERE'S NO MENTION OF HIM IN THE INVENTORY OF BURBECK'S PAPERS.

IT'S JUST THIS BEAUTIFUL GEM OF A MINIATURE PORTRAIT.

IT'S PAINTED ON PAPER, THOUGH, WHICH IS UNUSUAL BECAUSE MOST MINIATURES OF THIS PERIOD WERE PAINTED ON A THIN LITTLE SHEET OF IVORY.

I DON'T EVEN KNOW THAT IT'S AS OLD AS THE DATE THAT'S WRITTEN ON THE BACK OF IT.

IN 1790, WASHINGTON WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE SECOND YEAR OF HIS PRESIDENCY, AND NEW YORK WAS THE U.S. CAPITAL.

THE BANNER READS "G. WASHINGTON" AND THE FACE CERTAINLY LOOKS LIKE HIM, BUT WHOEVER PAINTED THIS CHOSE AN UNUSUAL PERSPECTIVE FOR THE PORTRAIT.

THIS IS THE PORTRAIT THAT WE'RE MOST FAMILIAR WITH WHEN WE THINK OF THE FATHER OF OUR COUNTRY.

ALMOST ALL OF THESE FAMOUS PORTRAITS SHOW THE CLASSIC HEAD-ON OR THREE-QUARTER POSE.

THERE IS SOME FAINT WRITING ON THE BACK.

I CAN MAKE OUT MAYBE "A-L WASHINGTON."

AND THIS LOOKS LIKE "WHITE M-A-T" -- THAT MUST BE "WHITE MATLACK," BUT THERE'S SOMETHING ELSE ABOVE IT WHICH I CAN'T MAKE OUT.

AT THE THAW CONSERVATION CENTER AT THE MORGAN LIBRARY AND MUSEUM, DIRECTOR MARGARET HOLBEN ELLIS HAS OFFERED TO GIVE OUR OBJECT SOME CLOSE SCRUTINY.

LET'S HAVE A LOOK AND SEE WHAT WE SEE.

IT'S PAINTED IN THE STYLE OF A MINIATURIST PAINTING.

SHE EXPLAINS HOW MINIATURES SUCH AS THIS BECAME POPULAR AS PORTABLE MEMENTOS IN THE 1700s, BUT OURS IS NOT AS FINELY PAINTED AS OTHER MINIATURES SHE'S EXAMINED.

I THINK WE MIGHT BE SEEING SOMETHING ELSE.

I JUST CAUGHT IT FROM THE LIGHT AT THIS ANGLE, THESE VERY DISTINCT EMBOSSED LINES.

IT LOOKS TO ME AS THOUGH IT'S A PLATE MARK.

A PLATE MARK IS AN INDENTATION MADE WHEN AN ENGRAVED METAL PLATE IS PRESSED AGAINST A SHEET OF PAPER.

IF THAT'S WHAT WE'RE SEEING, IT MEANS THAT THIS IS NOT AN ORIGINAL PAINTING BUT A BLACK-AND-WHITE PRINT THAT HAD BEEN PAINTED OVER.

MARGARET USES INFRARED LIGHT TO REVEAL WHAT'S BENEATH THE PAINT.

IT IS AS SHE SUSPECTED.

WE CAN NOW SEE THE PRINTED LINES BELOW THE PAINT LAYER.

MARGARET SAYS THIS PRINT IS CALLED A DRYPOINT ETCHING.

DRYPOINTS ARE MADE BY SCRATCHING A DESIGN ONTO A COPPER PLATE WITH A NEEDLE AND THEN SMEARING IT WITH INK.

THE PLATE IS SANDWICHED BETWEEN A DAMP SHEET OF PAPER AND A ROLLING MILL.

AND WHEN YOU PEEL THE PAPER OFF OF THAT PLATE, THE INK IS TRANSFERRED TO THE PAPER, AND THAT'S YOUR DESIGN.

AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE SEEING UNDERNEATH THIS NOW-TRANSPARENT WATERCOLOR.

IS THERE ANY WAY TO MAKE THE LETTERING ON THE BACK OF THE FRAME MORE READABLE?

WE'LL TRY TO ADJUST THE CONTRAST A LITTLE BIT.

I CAN MAKE OUT AN "A-L" AND THEN "WASHINGTON."

I GUESS THAT WOULD BE "GENERAL WASHINGTON."

I SEE "B-Y."

"BY J-O..." I CAN'T MAKE THAT OUT.

"I-G-H-T," THAT'S PROBABLY THE LAST NAME OF THE ARTIST.

SO WHITE MATLACK ISN'T THE ARTIST.

WHO IS I-G-H-T?

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY HOLDS A LARGE COLLECTION OF ETCHINGS AND PRINTS FROM THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR PERIOD.

I EMAILED A PHOTO OF OUR IMAGE TO ALVARO GONZALEZ-LAZO, PRINT SPECIALIST AT THE LIBRARY.

THIS MINIATURE BELONGED TO A GUY NAMED WHITE MATLACK, AND YOU CAN SEE IT SAYS "NEW YORK, 1790."

THIS LOOKS VERY FAMILIAR.

LOOK AT THIS.

AND WHEN WAS THIS PRINT MADE?

1790.

AND THIS IS BY WHO?

JOSEPH WRIGHT.

OKAY, SO THAT'S GOT TO BE THE I-G-H-T FROM THE BACK OF OUR PRINT.

ALVARO TELLS ME THAT JOSEPH WRIGHT, THE SON OF A NEW JERSEY SCULPTOR, LEARNED HIS PRINTMAKING IN EUROPE, WHERE HIS DRAWINGS CAUGHT THE EYE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

THROUGH THAT CONNECTION, WRIGHT SECURED AN APPOINTMENT TO PAINT GEORGE WASHINGTON.

THE FIRST ONE WAS DONE IN THE FALL OF 1783 IN NEW JERSEY.

THE NEXT ONE IS IN WINTER OF 1784.

OKAY, SO HE WOULD HAVE HAD A NUMBER OF PAINTINGS TO DRAW ON FOR THIS PRINT.

OH, DEFINITELY.

HE WAS ABLE TO DRAW WASHINGTON WHEN HE WAS SITTING FOR HIM.

HOW MANY COPIES OF WRIGHT'S ORIGINAL PRINT WERE MADE?

NO MORE THAN 30.

ALVARO SAYS THE GROOVES IN THE ETCHING PLATE WOULD WEAR OUT AFTER THAT MANY PRINTINGS.

HE BELIEVES THIS IS ONLY THE SEVENTH KNOWN ORIGINAL PRINT.

THE SIZE AND DETAILS ARE IDENTICAL.

MOST TELLING, HE SAYS, ARE THE PLATE MARKS, WHICH LINE UP EXACTLY.

ALVARO SHOWS ME SEVERAL IMITATIONS INSPIRED BY WRIGHT'S WORK.

ALL OF THESE PRINTS WERE MADE AFTER 1790.

ALVARO EXPLAINS THEIR SMALL SIZE MADE THEM PERFECT FOR MAILING.

FOR MANY AROUND THE GLOBE, THIS WAS THEIR FIRST LOOK AT THE NEW AMERICAN LEADER.

OUR PRINT IS THE ONLY COLORED WRIGHT ETCHING HE'S EVER SEEN.

BUT ONE THING I KNOW ABOUT IT IS THAT IT WAS DONE BY AN AMATEUR.

WHY BY AN AMATEUR?

BECAUSE IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE A REALLY FINE QUALITY.

WHO PAINTED OUR PRINT?

AND WHO IS THIS GUY, WHITE MATLACK, WHO OWNED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL IMAGES OF THE 18th CENTURY?

I'M SEARCHING A DATABASE OF HISTORIC NEW YORK PAPERS.

I'M GETTING A LOT OF HITS HERE, BUT THEY'RE ALMOST ALL ADS.

MATLACK IS ADVERTISING AS A WATCHMAKER DURING THE 1770s.

THEN HE RAN A BREWERY NOT FAR FROM THE FRAUNCES TAVERN.

BY THE 1780s, HE'S MOVING INTO STEEL MANUFACTURING.

HERE'S THE FIRST ENTRY THAT'S NOT AN AD, AND IT'S FROM 1786, AND IT LOOKS LIKE HE SIGNED A LETTER TO THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

THIS IS INTERESTING.

THE INDUSTRIALIST IS TAKING A POLITICAL POSITION AGAINST THE SHIPPING OF AFRICAN SLAVES THROUGH THE PORT OF NEW YORK.

"WE VIEW THE PAIN WHICH THESE UNHAPPY PEOPLE EXPERIENCE "FROM BEING SHIPPED LIKE CATTLE TO THE WEST INDIES AND THE SOUTHERN STATES."

MATLACK DEMANDS NEW YORK POLITICIANS TAKE ACTION.

"PASS AN ACT TO PREVENT THE FURTHER EXPORTATION OF NEGRO SLAVES FROM THIS STATE."

THREE YEARS LATER, HE'S A MEMBER OF AN ABOLITIONIST GROUP CALLED THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING THE MANUMISSION OF SLAVES.

AND HE WAS SHARING THIS SOCIETY WITH SOME PRETTY IMPRESSIVE COMPANY: JOHN JAY, JAMES DUANE, GEORGE BOND, JOHN BLEECKER.

ALMOST EVERY GUY ON THIS LIST HAS A NEW YORK CITY STREET NAMED AFTER HIM.

I THINK I'D LIKE TO TRY TO SEE IF I CAN FIND OUT A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT MATLACK.

I'M MEETING ANNA MAE DUANE AT THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

SHE'S A UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT PROFESSOR AND SHE'S STUDIED EARLY MANHATTAN ABOLITIONISTS.

RECOGNIZE THE SIGNATURE?

I'VE RESEARCHED WHITE MATLACK, AND I THINK IT'S FASCINATING THAT HE WOULD'VE OWNED THIS.

WASHINGTON REPRESENTED, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE REVOLUTIONARY PROMISE, RIGHT, THAT WE ARE NOT WHO OUR FATHERS ARE, THAT WE'RE NOT DETERMINED BY BLOODLINE, AND THAT'S THE GREAT PROMISE OF EQUALITY IN AMERICA.

BUT FOR MATLACK, ALSO, THAT PROMISE CAUSED HIM PERSONAL TRAUMA.

ANNA MAE EXPLAINS THAT MATLACK WAS A QUAKER, BUT HE AND HIS BROTHERS BROKE WITH THE PACIFIST TENETS OF THE QUAKER FAITH TO SUPPORT THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

HIS BROTHER WAS AN ACTUAL COLONEL IN THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMY, AND WHITE MATLOCK WAS A BIG SUPPORTER OF THE REVOLUTION.

AND FOR THAT, THE QUAKERS DISOWNED BOTH BROTHERS, WHICH IS SOMETHING THEY FOUND EXTREMELY PAINFUL.

THIS IS ACTUALLY A PETITION THAT THEY SENT, TRYING TO GET SOME JUSTICE.

"WHAT PEOPLE OF ANY AGE OR COUNTRY HAVE EVER YET BEEN FOUND "WHO WOULD SUFFER THE HOUSES OF THEIR WORSHIP "AND THE BONES OF THEIR ANCESTORS TO BE VIOLATED "AND TORN FROM THEM WITHOUT THE MOST DESPERATE RESISTANCE?

WE KNOW OF NO ONE."

WOW, SO WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS WOULD'VE MEANT TO MATLACK, THIS DRAWING OF WASHINGTON?

I THINK IT WOULD'VE REPRESENTED BOTH THE PROMISE OF THE REVOLUTION, THE PROMISE OF EQUALITY, AND THE SACRIFICES HE HAD MADE FOR THAT EQUALITY.

AND I THINK THAT HE MAY HAVE SHARED THIS WITH THE STUDENTS AT SOME POINT.

WHAT STUDENTS ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

THE STUDENTS OF THE NEW YORK AFRICAN FREE SCHOOL, WHICH IS -- NOW, I HAVEN'T HEARD OF THAT, THE AFRICAN FREE SCHOOL?

ANNA MAE SAYS IT'S A SCHOOL FOR EMANCIPATED SLAVES OPENED IN NEW YORK IN 1787.

THAT'S THREE YEARS BEFORE THE DATE ON OUR PORTRAIT.

A PROPOSAL FOR THE SCHOOL IS OUTLINED IN THE MANUMISSION SOCIETY'S RECORDS.

"ANXIOUS TO PROMOTE THE HAPPINESS OF THE POOR AFRICANS, "WE'RE OF OPINION THAT A COMMITTEE SHOULD BE APPOINTED "FOR ESTABLISHING A FREE SCHOOL IN THIS CITY FOR THE EDUCATION OF NEGRO CHILDREN."

WOW, SO THIS IS THE SEED OF THE FREE SCHOOL.

THAT MEANS THAT MATLACK WAS RIGHT THERE AT THE BEGINNING.

YES, IT WAS HIS BRAINCHILD.

DESPITE THE SUPPORT OF ELITE NEW YORKERS SUCH AS MATLACK, SHE EXPLAINS THAT THE SCHOOL FACED OPPOSITION FROM THOSE WHO BELIEVED THAT EDUCATED BLACKS WERE LIKELY TO INCITE SLAVE REVOLTS.

THIS WOULD BE PRETTY RISKY FOR HIM TO BECOME INVOLVED WITH.

I THINK IT WAS.

I THINK HE REALLY RISKED ALIENATING SOME OF HIS CLIENTS AND CONNECTIONS.

HOW MANY STUDENTS WERE TAUGHT THERE?

THERE WERE 40 IN THE BEGINNING.

BY 1835, THEY WERE TEACHING UP TO 400 OR 500 AT A TIME.

ANNA MAE HAS AN IDEA ABOUT A POSSIBLE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE FREE SCHOOL AND OUR ETCHING.

FROM THE BEGINNING, THEY WANTED THIS TO BE TRAINING IN CITIZENSHIP, SO THEY TAUGHT THESE STUDENTS WHAT WHITE STUDENTS WERE LEARNING: READING, WRITING, ARITHMETIC.

THERE WAS ALSO AN EMPHASIS ON PUBLIC SPEAKING AND ON ART.

ACTUALLY, LET ME SHOW YOU SOMETHING.

WHAT ANNA MAE SHOWS ME NEXT WILL CERTAINLY BE OF INTEREST TO DAVE.

YOU KNOW, DAVE, THIS LITTLE PORTRAIT TOOK ME DOWN AVENUES THAT I NEVER IMAGINED.

THIS WAS A PORTRAIT THAT REALLY INTRODUCED THE NATION AND THE WORLD TO WHAT GEORGE WASHINGTON LOOKED LIKE.

AND THE PRINT IS INCREDIBLY SPECIAL BECAUSE OF WHO OWNED IT.

WHITE MATLACK HAD BEEN A REVOLUTIONARY IN MANY DIFFERENT ARENAS: TURNING FROM HIS QUAKER FAITH TO FIGHT THE BRITISH, BUILDING NEW INDUSTRIES IN MANHATTAN, AND BATTLING SLAVERY FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS OF THE NEW NATION.

SOUNDS LIKE HE SACRIFICED QUITE A BIT TO BE A PATRIOT.

JUST AS IMPORTANTLY, HE WAS ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF A SCHOOL FOR FREED SLAVES HERE IN NEW YORK CITY.

AND IT WAS AT THIS SCHOOL WHERE OUR IMAGE MAY HAVE TAKEN ON ADDED SIGNIFICANCE.

THIS IS ACTUALLY STUDENT WORK FROM THE NEW YORK AFRICAN FREE SCHOOL.

THIS PORTRAIT WAS ALMOST CERTAINLY COPIED FROM AN ARTIFACT OR A DOCUMENT BROUGHT IN BY ONE OF THE FOUNDERS.

THE FOUNDING FATHERS WERE ABSOLUTELY PART OF THE CURRICULUM AND SOMEONE THE STUDENTS WERE TAUGHT TO EMULATE AND LOOK UP TO.

THAT DRAWING OF BEN FRANKLIN IS A COPY OF ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS DRAWINGS OF FRANKLIN, RIGHT?

RIGHT.

WHO DID THIS?

WOULD YOU BELIEVE THIS IS A 13-YEAR-OLD BOY WHO DREW THIS PICTURE?

HE WAS JAMES McCUNE SMITH, THE SON OF A SLAVE MOTHER HERE IN NEW YORK.

THERE ARE NO RECORDS FROM THE SCHOOL BEFORE 1817, BUT ANNA MAE SAYS IT'S POSSIBLE STUDENTS COPIED THIS ETCHING AND MAY HAVE EVEN COLORED IT.

I CAN'T SAY FOR SURE, BUT KNOWING WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT WHITE MATLACK'S ROLE IN THAT SCHOOL AND WHAT THIS PORTRAIT LIKELY MEANT TO HIM, I THINK IT'S VERY LIKELY THAT IT WOULD'VE SHOWN UP AT SOME POINT IN THE AFRICAN FREE SCHOOL.

SO HOW DOES THIS MAKE YOU FEEL NOW?

IT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN A POPULAR THING TO START A SCHOOL FOR BLACKS IN NEW YORK AT THAT TIME.

IT MEANS A LOT TO ME.

DAVE, THIS WAS A GREAT STORY.

THANKS FOR LETTING ME BE A PART OF IT.

THE MOST UBIQUITOUS IMAGE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON IS A POCKET-SIZED CAMEO WE CARRY IN OUR WALLETS.

THE ENGRAVING IS FROM GILBERT STUART'S 1796 OIL PAINTING.

BACK THEN, STUART SOLD COPIES OF HIS CELEBRATED PAINTING FOR $100 APIECE.

TODAY, YOU CAN GET IT FOR JUST $1.

SINCE ITS FIRST PRINTING IN 1869, WASHINGTON'S IMAGE HAS REMAINED THE SAME, BUT THE SINGLE NOTE HAS CHANGED IN SIZE AND DESIGN SEVERAL TIMES.

THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL OVERHAUL MAY HAVE COME IN 1935 WHEN PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT ADDED THE GREAT SEAL.

COMPLETED IN 1782, THE GREAT SEAL SYMBOLIZES THE UNION OF 13 COLONIES INTO A NEW NATION.

THE PYRAMIDS, MOTTOS, AND EAGLE REPRESENT STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE, WAR AND PEACE.

THE EYE REPRESENTS A WATCHFUL GOD.

BUT FANCIFUL AND CONSPIRATORIAL INTERPRETATIONS SUGGEST THAT THE NATIONAL EMBLEM IS EMBEDDED WITH SECRET MASONIC MESSAGES AND CLUES TO FINDING THE HOLY GRAIL.

THE CLAIM IS THAT FOUNDING FATHER BENJAMIN FRANKLIN USED HIS MASONIC BELIEF TO INFLUENCE THE DESIGN.

THE WORDS "IN GOD WE TRUST" WERE ADDED IN 1957.

ALTHOUGH THE ADDITION SPARKED DEBATE, THE SUPREME COURT HAS RULED THAT THE WORDING IS PATRIOTIC AND NOT RELIGIOUS.

Eduardo: OUR FIRST STORY LOOKS AT A PORTRAIT MADE BY AN AMERICAN P.O.W.

IN A WWII GERMAN PRISON CAMP.

1943: AS AMERICAN AIR ATTACKS AGAINST GERMANY INCREASE, THE NAZIS MOVE THE GROWING NUMBER OF CAPTURED AMERICAN AIRMEN INTO PRISONER OF WAR CAMPS CALLED STALAGS.

OVER 4,000 AIRMEN ENDED UP IN STALAG 17B, JUST OUTSIDE OF KREMS, AUSTRIA, IN BARRACKS MADE FOR 240 MEN.

HOW DID THESE MEN SURVIVE THE DEPRIVATION AND HARDSHIPS OF ONE OF THE MOST INFAMOUS PRISONER OF WAR CAMPS OF THE NAZI REGIME?

SIXTY-FIVE YEARS AFTER HER FATHER, GEORGE SILVA, BECAME A PRISONER OF WAR, GLORIA MACK OF TEMPE, ARIZONA, HAS THIS PORTRAIT OF HIM DRAWN BY ANOTHER P.O.W.

WHILE THEY WERE BOTH PRISONERS IN STALAG 17B.

I THOUGHT, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL THING TO COME OUT OF THE MIDDLE OF A PRISON CAMP.

HI, I'M EDUARDO PAG丠 FROM HISTORY DETECTIVES.

OH, IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU.

IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU, TOO.

COME ON IN.

THANK YOU.

I'M CURIOUS TO SEE GLORIA'S SKETCH AND HEAR HER FATHER'S STORY.

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL PORTRAIT.

WHEN WAS THIS PORTRAIT DRAWN?

IT WAS DRAWN IN 1944.

HOW DID YOU LEARN ABOUT THIS STORY OF HOW HE GOT THIS PORTRAIT?

BECAUSE OF THIS LITTLE STORY ON THE BACK.

IT SAYS, "PRINT FROM AN ORIGINAL PORTRAIT "DONE IN MAY OF 1944 BY GIL RHODEN.

"WE WERE P.O.W.s IN STALAG 17 AT KREMS, AUSTRIA.

"GIL AGREED TO DO MY PORTRAIT IN EXCHANGE FOR 2 ONIONS AND A SMALL POTATO."

AND I SEE THAT THAT IS HIS NAME DOWN HERE IN THE CORNER.

YES, RHODEN.

RHODEN.

IS THAT A PHOTOGRAPH OF YOUR FATHER BEFORE HE WAS A PRISONER?

YES, IT IS; HE'S A VERY HANDSOME GUY.

HE IS A HANDSOME GUY.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO FIND OUT FOR YOU?

I WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO GIL RHODEN, IF HE MADE IT OUT OF CAMP, IF HE WENT ON TO BECOME AN ARTIST, WHAT HAS HAPPENED?

OKAY, I'LL SEE WHAT I CAN DO.

CAN I TAKE THIS WITH ME?

YES, YOU CAN.

ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

YOU'RE WELCOME.

LET'S TAKE A MOMENT TO LOOK AT WHAT WE'VE GOT HERE.

WE HAVE ON THE LOWER RIGHT HIS NAME, RHODEN.

I'M A LITTLE SKEPTICAL THAT THE DRAWING IS WHAT THE NOTE STATES.

HE DOESN'T LOOK QUITE LIKE I WOULD IMAGINE A P.O.W.

TO LOOK.

HE APPEARS TO BE WELL FED AND HAPPY AND QUITE WELL GROOMED, SO I'M GOING TO HAVE TO FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THAT.

I'M GOING TO HAVE TO TALK TO GEORGE.

GLORIA'S FATHER, GEORGE SILVA, LIVES IN CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA.

GLORIA SAYS HER DAD NEVER TALKED ABOUT THE WAR WHILE SHE WAS GROWING UP, BUT HE'S WILLING TO MEET ME.

GEORGE, IS THIS YOU?

YES, IT IS.

DID YOU LOOK THIS NICE AS A PRISONER OF WAR?

I DON'T THINK SO.

THIS -- THIS FELLA WAS AMAZING.

I DON'T THINK I HAD MY HAIR LIKE THAT, PARTED.

AND ALSO, I DIDN'T HAVE THE CLOTHES ON THAT HE PICTURES THERE.

I HAD WHAT I WAS SHOT DOWN IN.

GEORGE SILVA WAS THE RADIO MAN ON A B-17 FLYING FORTRESS.

HE AND HIS CREW WERE WEARING FLIGHT SUITS DURING THEIR MISSION TO CH吱EAUDUN, FRANCE, ON MARCH 28, 1944.

THEY HAD JUST BOMBED A GERMAN FIGHTER BASE WHEN THEY WERE ATTACKED BY ANTIAIRCRAFT FIRE.

THE FIRST SHELL HIT THE NOSE, AND THEN THE SECOND ONE HIT BETWEEN NUMBER THREE AND FOUR ENGINE AND BLEW THE WING OFF.

THEN THE PARACHUTE WENT ROUND AND ROUND AND ROUND, FASTER AND FASTER.

SO YOU WERE INSIDE THAT PLANE?

YEAH, THE PEOPLE ABOVE US WERE TAKING PICTURES.

THIS IS AMAZING.

CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND?

MY MAIN THOUGHT WAS I WAS GOING TO DIE IN THAT PLANE.

I SAID MY GOODBYES TO THE FAMILY.

THE PLANE BROKE APART, CATAPULTING GEORGE INTO THE SKY, ALONE WITH A PARACHUTE HE HAD NO IDEA HOW TO USE.

I'D SEEN A MOVIE WITH JOHN WAYNE, AND THE PARATROOPERS STEERED THEIR PARACHUTES BY PULLING RIP CORDS.

I DID THAT, AND THE THING COLLAPSED.

AND I LANDED RIGHT BY THE ANTIAIRCRAFT BATTERY THAT SHOT US DOWN, SO I WAS AN IMMEDIATE PRISONER.

SO I DIDN'T GET ANY CHANCE TO DO ANYTHING ELSE.

HOW MANY MEN WERE ON BOARD?

TEN.

TEN, AND ONLY... ONLY THREE OF US.

THREE SURVIVED.

THE AIRMEN HAD THOUGHT THAT THEY WOULD FIGHT OR DIE TRYING.

THEY HADN'T TRAINED TO USE A PARACHUTE NOR WHAT TO DO WHEN CAPTURED.

GEORGE ENDED UP A PRISONER AT STALAG 17B.

WHAT KIND OF FOOD WOULD THEY GIVE YOU?

MOSTLY IT WAS RUTABAGAS.

AND IT WAS VERY THIN SOUP, GRUEL.

YOU EACH GOT A SCOOPFUL.

ONCE IN A WHILE YOU GOT BREAD.

NOW, BREAD WAS MADE WITH A LOT OF SAWDUST IN IT.

GEORGE TAKES OUT THE LOG BOOK THAT THE RED CROSS GAVE HIM AND THE OTHER U.S. P.O.W.s AT THE CAMP.

IN BOOKS SUCH AS THESE, THEY COLLECTED POEMS AND HONORED THE MEN ON THEIR PLANES... AND I TAKE IT THESE WERE THE MEN THAT DIDN'T SURVIVE?

YES.

AND EVEN PRESSED A RARE FLOWER OR TWO.

THEN GEORGE SHOWS ME WHAT HAD BEEN EVEN MORE VALUABLE THAN FOOD.

WHAT IS THIS THAT'S COVERING THE SKETCH?

I ASKED THE ARTIST HOW CAN I KEEP THAT FROM BEING ERASED IF IT'S JUST PENCIL, AND HE SAID, "WELL, COVER IT WITH TOILET TISSUE."

AND THE ONLY TOILET TISSUE WE HAD WAS GERMAN TOILET TISSUE, SO I DID, AND THERE IT IS.

SO THIS IS 70-YEAR-OLD...

TOILET TISSUE.

P.O.W.-ISSUED TOILET TISSUE; THAT IS AMAZING.

PRISONERS WERE SEGREGATED BY NATIONALITY INTO NEIGHBORING BARRACKS SEPARATED BY BARBED WIRE.

AN AMERICAN P.O.W.

COULD ATTEMPT TO TRADE WITH AN ADJACENT RUSSIAN SOLDIER, BUT IT REQUIRED SOME INGENUITY.

GEORGE PUT FOUR CIGARETTES IN A SOCK WITH A ROCK, THREW IT OVER THE WIRE, AND WAITED FOR A RUSSIAN P.O.W.

TO THROW IT BACK.

SO THIS SOCK COMES OVER, YOU OPEN IT UP, AND YOU FIND TWO ONIONS AND A POTATO.

WERE YOU DISAPPOINTED?

NO, I THOUGHT, "BOY, I'M GOING TO HAVE A FEAST."

A YOUNG MAN CAME THROUGH AND HE SAYS, "I'M AN ARTIST FROM NEW YORK," AND HE SAYS, "I'LL DO ANYBODY'S PORTRAIT IN PENCIL FOR FOOD."

I THOUGHT, "I'LL EAT THE SMALL POTATO AND THAT ONION "AND I'M STILL GOING TO BE HUNGRY "AND I WON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO SHOW FOR IT, "BUT IF I HAVE HIM MAKE MY PICTURE, I CAN LOOK AT IT AND SAY, 'THAT'S ME.'"

SO DID YOU KNOW GIL RHODEN?

NO, I DIDN'T.

IT'S JUST LIKE HE DISAPPEARED, YOU KNOW?

HE CAME TWO DAYS AND DID MY PICTURE.

ALL HE EVER SAID TO ME WAS, "STAY STILL."

SO WHEN HE GOT THROUGH, HE GOT HIS TWO LITTLE ONIONS AND POTATO AND OUT HE WENT.

SO YOU NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO GET TO KNOW HIM AT ALL.

I NEVER DID.

WELL, GEORGE, THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH ME.

I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS WITH ME TO SEE WHAT I CAN FIND OUT ABOUT THE ARTIST.

MAY I DO SO?

YOU MAY.

IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE GEORGE WAS ON THAT PLANE.

MEETING HIM WAS A SOBERING REMINDER OF WHAT THESE MEN ENDURED IN THEIR SERVICE.

I GET STARTED WITH MY SEARCH, BUT I'M NOT HAVING MUCH LUCK.

I STILL CAN'T FIND WHERE GIL RHODEN IS.

I'M SEARCHING THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES' WWII ARMY ENLISTMENT RECORDS.

NO GIL RHODEN.

MAYBE IF I LEARN MORE ABOUT STALAG 17B, I COULD FIGURE OUT ANOTHER WAY TO FIND HIM.

HERE'S A HIGHLY REGARDED ACCOUNT OF A P.O.W.

'S STAY THERE.

IT'S A BOOK CALLED THE FLAME KEEPERS.

IT WAS WRITTEN BY NED HANDY, A FORMER P.O.W., AND KEMP BATTLE, WHO'S AN AUTHOR AND HISTORY CONSULTANT.

I'M IN BOSTON TO TALK TO EX-P.O.W.

NED HANDY, WHO'S NOW 87.

HE'S WITH HIS COAUTHOR, KEMP BATTLE.

EDUARDO, I'M NED HANDY.

TELL ME ABOUT LIFE AS A PRISONER.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO PASS THE TIME OF DAY?

A LOT OF TIME WAS SPENT JUST KEEPING ALIVE.

DURING WINTER THEY FOUGHT OFF FROSTBITE, AND THEIR DAILY ENEMY WAS HUNGER.

NED, KEMP, THIS IS THE LOG THAT GEORGE HAS SHARED WITH US.

VERY FEW PEOPLE IN STALAG 17 HAD ACCESS TO PENCIL AND PAPER OR EVEN THE TIME TO KEEP A LOG, SO THIS IS A TREASURE, A RARE ONE.

BECAUSE OF THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS, AMERICANS HAD SOME AMENITIES.

THE GERMANS ALLOWED US TO ELECT OUR LEADER EVERY SIX MONTHS AND ELECT OUR BARRACKS CHIEFS.

THEY CALLED THEMSELVES KREGIES, SHORT FOR THE GERMAN WORD KRIEGSGEFANGENER, MEANING "PRISONER OF WAR."

EACH KREGIE HAD LIKELY JUST SURVIVED A CRASH THAT HAD KILLED MANY OR MOST OF HIS CREW.

HE WAS PROBABLY INJURED, HUNGRY, AND BARELY 20 OR 21.

YET UNDER THESE CONDITIONS, KREGIES MANAGED TO CREATE A DEMOCRACY AND THEY ORGANIZED A CULTURAL LIFE WITHIN THE CAMPS.

[ ♪♪♪ ] THIS IS A PLAYBILL FROM CHRISTMAS EVE.

"CHRISTMAS CAROLS, A CHOIR AND ORCHESTRA RENDITION OF THE MESSIAH."

I DID HEAR ABOUT THE CHAPEL ONLY BECAUSE SOME GUYS GOT ME TO GO WITH THEM THAT CHRISTMAS EVE OF 1944.

THAT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE FOR ME.

THESE YOUNG MEN WERE IN A PLACE WHERE FORGETTING WHO THEY WERE WAS VERY EASY.

THEY WERE CUT OFF FROM EVERYTHING THEY KNEW.

AND SO DRAWING PICTURES, PUTTING ON PLAYS, WRITING POEMS WERE ALL STRONG STATEMENTS OF DEFIANCE IN ITS OWN WAY AGAINST THEIR CAPTORS.

KEMP SAYS DRAWING GEORGE AS A HALE AND HEARTY YOUNG MAN WITH A SMILE ON HIS FACE WAS AN ACT OF IMAGINATION AND OF HOPE.

IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY WERE ASSERTING THEIR HUMANITY IN A VERY DEHUMANIZING PROCESS.

IT'S SAYING, "I KNOW WHO I AM.

I'M AN ARTIST, I'M NOT A P.O.W."

WE'RE LUCKY TO HAVE THIS BOOK AT ALL.

AT THE END OF THE WAR, AS THE RUSSIANS ADVANCED ALONG THE BRUTAL EASTERN FRONT, THE GERMANS TOLD EVERYONE AT THE CAMP IT WAS TIME TO GO.

"WE'RE TAKING YOU OUT OF HERE."

THEY DIDN'T SAY WHERE WE WERE GOING, BUT, "WHATEVER YOU CAN CARRY."

ON APRIL 8, 1945, THEY FORCED THE PRISONERS TO MARCH WEST TOWARD THE AMERICANS.

AFTER ALMOST A MONTH WITH LITTLE FOOD AND NO SHELTER, ON MAY 3rd, GENERAL PATTON'S MEN FOUND THE P.O.W.s, AMONG THEM NED AND GEORGE AND PERHAPS GIL RHODEN.

GEORGE AND A FEW OTHERS WERE CARRYING THEIR LOG BOOKS.

HOW THEY MANAGED TO SURVIVE TO BE HERE FOR US NOW IS A MIRACLE.

NED, DID YOU EVER KNOW GIL RHODEN?

I DID NOT.

HE WAS OBVIOUSLY IN SOME OTHER BARRACKS.

EVEN IF HE'D HAVE BEEN IN MY BARRACKS, I WOULDN'T HAVE KNOWN HIM.

GUYS IN SUCH CLOSE PROXIMITY MIGHT NOT KNOW EACH OTHER.

AND ONE KREGIE'S COMMENT TO ME WAS, "WELL, HOW OFTEN HAVE YOU WALKED THROUGH YOUR BEST FRIEND'S BEDROOM?"

AND FOR HIM AND FOR THE KREGIES, THAT SPACE WAS SO PRIVATE; IT WAS THE ONLY PRIVATE SPACE THEY HAD.

WE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO FIND GIL RHODEN.

DO YOU HAVE ANY RECOMMENDATIONS OF WHERE WE COULD LOOK?

A WEB SITE, P.O.W.

NEWS.

ALL RIGHT, GEORGE TOLD ME THAT HE WAS IN BARRACK 31A, SO I SCROLL DOWN TO BARRACK 31A, AND THERE HE IS, GEORGE A. SILVA, BARRACK 31A.

WHILE I'M IN BARRACK 31A, LET ME LOOK AND SEE IF I CAN FIND GIL RHODEN.

WELL, HERE'S A RHODEN RIGHT HERE, BUT IT'S A HAROLD RHODEN, IT'S NOT GIL.

I WONDER IF GEORGE GOT THE NAME WRONG.

I RETURN TO THE ONLINE SITE OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, AND UNDER P.O.W., THERE IS A HAROLD RHODEN.

HE WAS A SERGEANT IN THE 466th AND HE WAS CAPTURED ON APRIL 8, 1944.

YEARS AFTER THE WAR, A HAROLD RHODEN IN LOS ANGELES BECAME A HIGH-PROFILE LAWYER, AND HE WROTE A BOOK, HIGH STAKES: THE GAMBLE FOR HOWARD HUGHES' WILL.

THIS RHODEN IS AN AUTHOR, NOT AN ARTIST, BUT THE AUTHOR'S BIO NOTE SAYS... "HAROLD RHODEN WAS BORN IN CHICAGO.

"DURING WORLD WAR II HE WAS A B-24 TAIL GUNNER.

"SHOT DOWN IN 1944, HE SPENT 13 MONTHS AS A PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY."

THEN I FIND SOME SAD NEWS: HAROLD RHODEN'S OBITUARY.

HAROLD RHODEN DIED IN A PLANE CRASH IN 1989 ALONG WITH HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTER.

HE WAS SURVIVED BY THREE SONS, AND ONE OF THEM, FLETCHER, WAS LIVING IN LOS ANGELES AT THE TIME... AND HE STILL IS.

I'VE COME TO LOS ANGELES TO SEE IF FLETCHER CAN CONFIRM WHETHER HIS FATHER, HAROLD RHODEN, WAS ALSO OUR ARTIST.

AND THERE ON FLETCHER'S WALL IS A WORK BY HAROLD RHODEN.

THIS IS A PAINTING OF A PARIS STREET AFTER A RAINY EVENING, AND IT'S ONE OF OUR FAVORITE PAINTINGS.

I LOVE THE COLOR.

HERE'S ANOTHER ONE, AN EXAMPLE OF MY FATHER'S WORK IN PORTRAITURE.

THIS IS, OF COURSE, TCHAIKOVSKY.

HERE YOU CAN REALLY SEE MY FATHER'S SKILL AT BRINGING A FACE TO LIFE.

IT'S VERY EVOCATIVE, AND I SEE RIGHT DOWN HERE HIS SIGNATURE.

THAT'S HIS SIGNATURE.

USUALLY PAINTINGS HE SIGNED HIS NAME, HAROLD, BUT WITH HIS PENCIL SKETCHES, RARELY.

GEORGE'S SKETCH WAS DONE IN PENCIL, BUT THESE TWO SIGNATURES LOOK NEARLY IDENTICAL.

FLETCHER, I'D LIKE TO SHOW YOU A SKETCH THAT WE'VE BEEN INVESTIGATING THAT WE BELIEVE MIGHT HAVE BEEN DRAWN BY YOUR FATHER, BUT I'D LIKE TO HAVE YOUR REACTION TO IT.

OF COURSE.

HERE IT IS.

I CAN'T WAIT TO SHARE THIS WITH GLORIA AND GEORGE.

GLORIA, GEORGE, WE COULD NOT FIND GIL RHODEN, AND IT'S IN FACT BECAUSE THERE WAS NO GIL RHODEN.

OHHH!

REALLY?

WE WERE ABLE TO FIND IN YOUR BARRACK GEORGE SILVA.

IN FACT, THERE YOU ARE.

BUT IF YOU LOOK A LITTLE BIT HIGHER UP, A RHODEN, HAROLD, 31A.

HE WAS IN YOUR SAME BARRACK.

WOW!

SO THE QUESTION REMAINS, WAS HAROLD RHODEN THE MAN WHO DREW THIS SKETCH?

HERE IT IS.

YEAH, THAT'S MY FATHER'S WORK.

NO QUESTION.

THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.

TAKE A LOOK DOWN HERE WHERE HE SIGNED HIS WORK.

DOES THAT LOOK LIKE YOUR FATHER'S SIGNATURE?

IT IS MY FATHER'S SIGNATURE.

IT IS, WITHOUT A QUESTION.

IT'S NICE TO SEE THIS.

IT'S A LITTLE LIKE... WELL, IT'S A LITTLE LIKE... SHAKING MY FATHER'S HAND AGAIN IN A WAY.

IT'S NICE TO SEE THIS.

THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT HAROLD RHODEN WAS THE ARTIST WHO DREW YOUR PORTRAIT.

I WAS ABLE TO TRACK HIM AFTER THE WAR.

I TELL GLORIA AND GEORGE ABOUT HAROLD, HIS LIFE AFTER THE WAR AND SOME OF THE DETAILS OF HIS SERVICE.

IN FACT, HE WAS SHOT DOWN JUST TWO WEEKS AFTER YOU WERE SHOT DOWN.

I'LL BE DARNED.

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT.

I HAVE ANOTHER SURPRISE FOR YOU.

HUH?

HOLD ON.

OKAY.

I WOULD LIKE YOU TO MEET FLETCHER RHODEN, THE SON OF HAROLD RHODEN.

GEORGE, GLORIA, HELLO.

VERY NICE TO MEET YOU.

VERY NICE TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE.

GOOD CHRIST, I'VE BEEN LIVING WITH THIS GIL RHODEN FOR 60 YEARS, AND IT'S YOUR -- HOW ARE YOU?

THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.

VERY NICE TO MEET YOU.

YOU LOOK JUST LIKE YOUR PICTURE.

WELL, THANK YOU.

YOU HAVEN'T AGED A BIT.

OH, I KNOW.

OH, IT'S SO GREAT.

GOD, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT.

THIS IS WONDERFUL.

THIS WAS SO EXCITING FOR ME TO HEAR ABOUT THIS, THAT YOU HAD A PICTURE OF MY FATHER AND THAT YOU KNEW MY DAD BACK IN THE DAY.

GOD, I WISH -- I'D HAVE GIVEN ANYTHING IF I COULD SEE HIM AGAIN.

ME, TOO, GEORGE.

ME, TOO.

BUT, YOU KNOW, MAYBE THE NEXT BEST THING IS GOING TO BE THIS PICTURE THAT I DREW OF MY FATHER FROM BACK IN THE DAYS OF YOUR TIME WITH HIM IN THE P.O.W.

CAMP.

MAYBE THAT INSPIRES SOME MEMORIES.

THAT'S SUPER.

GEORGE, IS THIS HAROLD RHODEN THE MAN WHO DREW YOUR PORTRAIT?

YES, IT IS.

OH, MY GOSH.

IT'S HIM ALL RIGHT.

GOD'S SAKES.

SIXTY-SOME YEARS I'VE BEEN WONDERING ABOUT THAT MAN.

WELL, I'D LIKE TO TELL YOU ALL ABOUT HIM.

I'D LIKE TO LISTEN.

THESE AIRMEN MADE THE D-DAY INVASION POSSIBLE BY BOMBING NEARBY STRONGHOLDS, KNOWING THAT THEY WERE MORE LIKELY TO DIE THAN TO RETURN HOME.

AND WHEN THEY WERE CAPTURED AT THEIR MOST DESPERATE AND ISOLATED MOMENT, THEY CREATED A COMMUNITY AND A CIVILIZATION THAT ALLOWED THEM TO CONTINUE THE FIGHT.

A PLAY OR A SKETCH WAS AN ACT OF DEFIANCE, AND DEFIANCE ITSELF WAS A WORK OF ART.

I'LL NEVER FORGET THIS DAY, NEVER.

FOR HELP FINDING OLD FRIENDS AND UNREQUITED CRUSHES, GRADE SCHOOL BULLIES, AND PEOPLE THAT OWE YOU MONEY, THE INTERNET HAS REPLACED THE PRIVATE DETECTIVE.

IF YOUR LOST FRIEND HAS AN UNCOMMON NAME, START WITH A REGULAR SEARCH ENGINE, PUTTING THEIR NAME IN QUOTES.

MANY SEARCH ENGINES OFFER AN ALERT, A NOTICE LINKING YOU TO AN INTERNET ARTICLE EVERY TIME A SPECIFIC NAME APPEARS ON THE WEB.

TO FIND SOMEONE LIKE "ROBERT SMITH," THE DETAILS YOU ALREADY KNOW CAN BE GREAT STARTING PLACES, LIKE WHERE HE GREW UP, WHERE HE WENT TO COLLEGE, OR YEARS OF MILITARY SERVICE.

IF YOU KNOW YOUR PAL BOBBY GRADUATED FROM STATE IN '82, HIS SCHOOL'S ALUMNI OFFICE WILL FORWARD HIM YOUR MESSAGE.

SOME MILITARY PERSONNEL RECORDS ARE POSTED ONLINE BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT AND INCLUDE ENLISTMENT DATES, OCCUPATIONS, PLACES SERVED, AND DETAILS ABOUT DISTINGUISHED SERVICE.

LESS FLATTERING, PUBLIC RECORDS WEB SITES SHARE COURT, CRIMINAL, AND PROPERTY DETAILS.

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES ARE THE PLACE TO GO FOR BABY BOOMERS OR YOUNGER FOLKS.

YOU'LL HAVE TO JOIN TO CONTACT OTHER MEMBERS, BUT MOST ARE FREE.

A WEALTH OF GENEALOGY SITES ARE IN THE BUSINESS OF ADDING LEAVES TO YOUR FAMILY TREE.

THESE SITES ACCESS IMMIGRATION INFORMATION, SHIP MANIFESTS, BIRTH AND DEATH CERTIFICATES, AND DRAFT REGISTRATION CARDS.

TODAY, THERE'S WHOLE NEW MEANING TO "LET YOUR FINGERS DO THE WALKING."

GOOD LUCK.

LET YOUR MYSTERY UNLOCK AMERICAN HISTORY.

YOU KNOW, AT HISTORY DETECTIVES, WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR THAT NEXT GREAT CASE, AND YOU MIGHT HAVE JUST WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR.

THE CRITERIA IS SIMPLE.

THE MYSTERY MUST BE CONNECTED TO AN OBJECT... [ making electronic musical sounds ] AND THE OBJECT HAS TO BE TIED TO AMERICAN HISTORY.

TO SUBMIT YOUR CASE, GO TO HISTORY DETECTIVES ON THE WEB AT pbs.org, THEN CLICK "SUBMIT YOUR STORY."