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Monday, July 20, 9-10 pm ET
A recording that may have played a part in the World War II treason trial of Tokyo Rose; a photo ostensibly of Crazy Horse; the poignant diary of a World War II pilot.
Tokyo Rose Recording - A HISTORY DETECTIVES viewer has a recording
he thinks holds evidence used in the World War II treason trial of
Iva Tugori, aka Tokyo Rose. Toguri was an American citizen who
hosted a Japanese propaganda radio show broadcast to U.S. troops
serving in the Pacific. These broadcasts were at the center of what
was then the costliest trial in U.S. history. The viewer has never
been able to play his oversized record, but family lore says it
reveals the role his uncle played in this infamous show trial.
HISTORY DETECTIVES host Gwendolyn Wright consults with experts from
Long Island to Los Angeles. Her answer flips assumptions of guilt
and innocence, and gives viewers a fresh angle on what actually
happened in and around that trial.
Crazy Horse Photo - Twenty-five years ago, someone gave a leather
purse to a Lakota businessman. Inside the purse he found a
photograph and a note, dated 1904, written in the Lakota language.
An elderly man from the Lakota community translated the note. In
brief, it says, "This is a photograph of Crazy Horse." Does the
contributor have the Holy Grail of the Wild West: a photo of the
Lakota warrior who defeated General Custer? Historians are
suspicious of most photos purported to be of Crazy Horse. The
Lakota leader avoided cameras, believing they would rob his soul.
To verify the photo, HISTORY DETECTIVE host Elyse Luray tracks down
a Crazy Horse descendant and visits the Crazy Horse Memorial.
Finally, she puts the photo in context with other works by the same
photographer at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.
WWII DIARY (encore presentation) - A man in Lexington, North
Carolina, has a poignant diary written by a World War II pilot. He
inherited the diary 20 years ago from his father, who said it once
belonged to a close friend whom he fought alongside in WWII, until
the war took his friend's life in 1944. Keeping the last thoughts
of this fallen solider is now too great a burden for the
contributor. Can HISTORY DETECTIVES return it to a living relative?
The stakes are raised as the diary pages reveal the story of a
young American pilot stationed in England, racing against time and
all odds to return home before the birth of his first child. Host
Wes Cowan heads to Florida on a quest to reunite the diary with the
pilot's surviving family.