"Show Me Your Favorite Conspiracy And I'll Show You Who You Are"- Brad Meltzer
"Brad Meltzer's Lost History" airs on the H2 channel on Fridays at 10 PM ET. In this series Brad asks viewer's to help location lost or stolen historical items. Each episode opens with Brad saying "What if I told you that many of the artifacts that tell our nation's story have vanished?" Some may be in attics, yard sales or sold on the black market. A reward is offered for the recovery of each featured item. See Brad's Top 10 Missing List here
Many of the full episodes are available at http://www.history.com/shows/brad-meltzers-lost-history/episodes
I had also previously reviewed "Brad Meltzer's Decoded". See reviews here
Missing Ground Zero Flag
Episode 1: "The Ground Zero Flag"
The flag that flew over Ground Zero right after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York City is missing. This story is of course a sensitive topic for all Americans (especially for those who lived through the event). Several firefighters find a flag and then raise it on a flagpole. Tom Franklin (a photographer) is there and takes several frames of the flag. Tom rushes back to his paper. The photo is quickly seen around the world. It galvanizes the US public.
The flag was then taken down and flown at a special ceremony at Yankee Stadium. It is then sent to a US aircraft carrier where it will fly during war times. A couple comes forward saying the flag was from their yacht. But they later discover it's much bigger in size than their flag. The firefighters who raised the flag agree that it is not the correct flag either. No one seems to know where the original flag went.
In segment two, Harry Truman's sword collection was stolen in 1978 from the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri. He received the swords as gifts while serving as President. They are from several Middle Eastern dignitaries (including the Shah of Iran). Many are very old and encrusted with gems. They were worth $1 million in 1978. They may be priceless by today's standards. The FBI continues to investigate. Could the swords be back in the Middle East (maybe Saudi Arabia or Iran)?
In segment three, John Dillinger's Tommy gun is missing. Dillinger began robbing banks in 1933. His actions turned him into a folk hero to some and public enemy number 1 to others. In 1934 he escapes from the Porter County Indiana Sheriff's Department. He takes one of their Thompson sub machine guns on his way out the door. He creates such a menace across the Midwest that the FBI gets involved. J Edgar Hoover of course always gets his man. A woman named Anna Sage rats him out in Chicago. The FBI blasts Dillinger full of holes as he comes out of a theater. The Tommy is nowhere to be seen though. It turns out Anna dumped all of Dillinger's belongings into Lake Michigan. Some boys find it while swimming. It is turned over to the local police who send it to the FBI (but no one figures out it was related to John Dillinger). Gordon Herigstad is doing research in 2000. He goes to the FBI's Firearms Reference Collection. He matches the serial number to one of the Thompson's on the wall. It is Dillinger's gun. It is on display in Porter County Indiana.
Episode 2: "Hitler's Photo Album"
Americans GIs After Liberating The Eagle's Nest
The show recounts Private Alton More and EZ Company (also known as the "Band of Brothers"). They attack the Eagle's Nest Compound (Hitler's stronghold). Hitler is gone but there are a large number of artifacts left behind. More finds two photo albums belonging to Hitler. Of course a number of other people (including a French general) want to get their hands on the albums. Upon returning home Alton shared the photo album with his children but did not like to discuss the war. He dies back home in a car accident. His wife later sells them to a mysterious man who promises to write a book about the albums and Alton. But they see or hear from the person again.
A military museum from Kentucky has one photo album from Hitler. It shows the French surrendering but is not the album belonging to More (because his contained photos of Hitler and Mussolini). It belonged to another member of the 506th infantry regiment. Alton More's albums remaining missing.
In the second segment, the search is on for the Civil War battle flag of the 12th Regiment (a regiment of African American soldiers). There are only seven such flags in existence today. Whoever carried the army's colors were marked men. The goal of the opponent was to knock out the flag bearer (so the other side would become confused). Many flags end up being covered with the blood of their carriers and are sometimes called "blood clothes". They get a break in the 1990s. The seller visits the FBI undercover agent in Philadelphia. He admits the flag was previously stolen from a museum. He gets four months house arrest (and dies shortly thereafter from cancer). The flag is back in a museum.
The James Bond car (the Aston Martin DB5) is missing. In 1997 the Bond car was stolen from a locked warehouse at the Boca Raton airport. The people who stole it were not amateurs. It appears to have been loaded onto another plane and flown away. The car is worth $4 million. There is a sister car currently in Ohio (but the original is the only one driven by Sean Connery). They also investigate whether it was insurance fraud on the part of the owner. There was never enough evidence to prove this.
Episode 3: "JFK's Brain"
The Biggest Conspiracy In American History
After Kennedy's assassination in 1963 his brain was preserved in formaldehyde. It was to be stored in the National Archives. Two years later his secretary (Evelyn Lincoln) locks "item number 9" in a foot locker. That is the last anyone saw of it. Most of the conspiracies around JFK involve a second shooter. The brain would help solve this mystery but the brain was never autopsied. The two pathologists that were picked to do the autopsy had zero experience with gunshot wound autopsies.In 1972 the head of the Academy of Forensic Scientists goes looking for the brain. He believes JFK was hit by two shots (one from the front and one from the rear). Evelyn Lincoln later says she gave the footlocker and the keys to Angela Novello (who was Robert Kennedy's secretary). Later under testimony Angie says she has no recollection of the event. Some are still are in search of the brain but it may never be found.
In segment two Brad searches for Wallace Harley's violin. Hartley and his band played on as the Titanic sank. The nine musicians went down with the ship (while others scurried for the life boats). Wallace's body was recovered and given a hero's burial but what happened to his violin? In 2006 it is revealed that Hartley's leather bag (with the violin inside) was retrieved from the icy water. It then went to Maria Robinson (Harley's fiance). When she passed away, her sister gave it to the Salvation Army. Later they gave it to a music student. His son is the person who made the information public. It was sold in auction to a private collector for $1.7 million.
In segment three, Brad revealed missing gold from San Francisco's US Mint. In 1901, 1500 $20 Double Eagle coins are reported missing from the facility (today worth $10 million). The culprit is apparently the second in command-- Walter Dimmick. He is the person that alerted everyone in the first place. He got six bags of coins out of the mint over time by putting them in a suitcase and walking straight right out the front the door. Dimmick goes on trial and is finally convicted after two hung juries but the coins are nowhere to be seen Later a California couple finds a number of cannisters with Double Eagles. This find turns out NOT to be the Dimmick coins (which is good because otherwise they would be the property of the US government). So where are Dimmick's coins? Still out there somewhere. Start searching...
Episode 4: "Missing Moon Rocks"
Missing Moon Rocks
In 2002 thieves sneak into the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. Their target was the facility's moon rocks. They cant get the safe open so they cart the 600 lb safe away on a dolly. It is illegal for any person to possess moon rocks. The US loaned a number of rocks out to other nations for study. Several went missing. Some were even lost in the mail. A collector in Belgium alerts the FBI/NASA that someone is trying to sell moon rocks. It turns out to be an inside job by NASA physicist Thad Roberts. He did all this to impress a girl. Seriously? Thad serves eight years in prison. All the rocks stolen were recovered. Case closed on these rocks but there are still plenty more missing.
In segment two the derringer pistol used to assassinate President Lincoln may be missing. The National Park Service restored Ford Theater in the 1950s and put it on display in a glass case. In 1997 an imprisoned burglar says he replaced the gun with a fake. The FBI investigates.They check the rifling pattern of the gun and compare it with a mold done in 1957. They match. Then they check photos of the pistol taken in the 1930s. The derringer has a distinctive crack in it. They again match. The pisto in Ford Theater is NOT a fake. Why did the con start this rumor? He was trying to sell another gun on the black market saying it was the derringer. Case closed.
In segment three the wreckage of the sports car that James Dean died in (a Porsche Spyder 550) is missing. It was named "Little Bastard". He always had a need for speed growing up and raced in several venues. When he buys the car he is filming the movie "Giant". The producers make him sign a contract saying he wont race during production. As soon as he's done, he's off to the race. In September 1954 he's driving the car to a race. Someone turned left onto the highway. Dean was going too fast and crashed into him. George Barris acquired the car and used it to promote road safety nationwide. In 1960 the Porsche disappeared. No one is sure what happened after that. Even a $1 million reward doesnt locate it.
Episode 5: "Lee Harvey Oswald's Ring"
The Lee Family In Happier Times
Brad is in search of Lee Harvey Oswald's wedding ring. When assassinating President Kennedy in 1963, he left it behind at home. Lee was courtmarshalled twice while in the Marines and later sought asylum in Russia. He married a Russian woman named Marina Prusakova. They move back to the US in 1962. It is later uncovered that Marina's father was a general in the Russian military. Was Marina, her family, and/or the Soviet government involved? Oswald was buried with two rings: 1. a ruby ring and 2. a wedding ring. Marina confirmed that she placed HER wedding ring in the casket before he was buried. However, HIS ring remained lost. Marina didnt know what happened to it and didnt want to find it (because it represented the worse day of her life). After 40 years it is found. Marina's family auctions it to a private investor for $108,000. Case closed about the ring but conspiracies continue to swirl around JFK's assassination. I dont think those will stop any time soon.
In the second segment a plaque commemorating the television series "Roots" (based on Alex Haley's Pulitzer prize winning novel) was stolen from an Annapolis port in 1981. The message left in its place said "you have been patronized by the KKK". The residents just made a bigger plaque that was impossible to steal. If you have any information on the lost plaque, please contact the "Lost History" tip line at http://losthistory.leftrighttv.com/ On a related note, I met Alex Haley several years ago. He was/is quite an inspiration.
Segment three involves a stolen handwritten draft of "The Bill of Rights". There were 14 documents total-- the original (which is currently in the National Archives in Washington DC) and 13 copies (one for each of the 13 colonies). In the 1930s it becomes apparent that 7 of the documents were missing. One turns out to be in the custody of a noted antics dealer in Connecticut named Wayne Pratt. After some investigation it is revealed that it's the North Carolina copy. During the Civil War, union soldiers sack Raleigh and carry it away. It was then sold to someone for $5. That person's descendants then sell it to Pratt for $200,000. He tries to sell it to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia for $4 million. The FBI becomes involved since it was stolen. After a lengthy legal battle he donates to the North Carolina archives (where it remains today).
Grade: 4 1/2 Monsters (out of 5). If you like history and mysteries, this might be the show for you. I'm finding it very interesting and thought provoking.
TV: Heavy On Sci Fi, Horror & Adventure; Light On Reality
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