The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event
What do you have there, Ned?
It's for my dad
Neddie!
Neddie, could you take that bowl of potato chips into the family room?
I've got batter on my hands
Mom, I drew a picture of Dad's plane with the exact way
that the wings were decorated, OK? / OK, Neddie
Because, you said he's not flying in that anymore so he needs something to remember it by
Mom, I need you to start the shrimp rounds
Who are you?
I'm Ned
Well then I'm your dad, Ned
You don't look like my dad
I have his picture
I'm a lot handsomer now than I used to be
I'm home
Oh, my God Carl
Hi
- I remember you - Hi
I made this
It's real
These are the bracelets with your name on them
Everybody wore 'em while you were in Vietnam
Big boys don't cry, Dad
I'm cryin' because your mom spent so much money on this box
No, I made it
Oh, yeah?
Apr '73 Burton, C
Lieutenant Stillman
Kat Miller, narcotics I called you
Detective Rush and Valens
Glad you could come down
We found something interesting tossed in this place
What are they?
POW bracelets
All with the same name on 'em Carl Burton
He was a Navy pilot
Prisoner of war in Vietnam He was shot to death back here in '73
You remember that all from cuff?
He was a war hero
Never brought the job in?
Where'd you find this?
Behind the water heater in the cellar
I just thought that was off
Something sentimental to a murder victim being stuffed down there
So, were these like dog tags?
Friends and family wore 'em, not the soldier
POWs who made it home like Carl did,
someone would gather them up and make a presentation
Anyone you drag out of this place know how they wound up here?
House was empty when we hit it
Skimpy new direction
He's a POW, Scotty
We got anything, we're gonna go with it
Yeah OK, sure
In fact, think of Carl Burton like family
That's how I want this job worked
Carl Burton, 35, Lieutenant Commander, US Navy
Shot down on his 23rd bombing mission over Hanoi
Go up enough times, luck runs out
His got even worse, was captured, spent 5 years in a prison camp
Survives all that, gets gunned down in his own area code
7 months after he's home
Last place Carl's seen was a funeral reception
of a POW buddy of his, Rex Potter
He was a Roxborough guy same as Carl, didn't make it out of the prison camp
Interviews with the family, people at the Potter house that night,
no one sees anything unusual
Carl's body was found a mile from the reception,
gun was a few feet from him but rain washed away any prints
And a bag of marijuana in his pocket
Well a funeral's gotta be intense, right?
Put Carl in the mood for some kind of escape?
He scores, gets shot on the way home,
being in the wrong neighborhood
That doesn't explain the bracelets in that house
Maybe he tried to trade 'em to the dealer
No, they're not worth anything
Could be why he got shot
Let's talk to Carl's wife and son,
see what they remember about the day of the funeral
Could be another vet burnout story, John
Lot of guys we served with came home, turned to junk
Whatever we find, we follow it up
You didn't have to fix up, Mrs Burton
Military wife, look right, live right
May I get you a drink?
Pretty early
Cocktail hours somewhere, boys used to say
We're here about your husband's murder
Something come up?
We found his POW bracelets in an abandoned house in Tioga
Kind of sketchy area back when Carl was killed
It's even worse now
OK
Any idea how the bracelets wound up there?
No
This is embarassing but,
I guess I lost track of them
You don't seem like the losing track type
No, but I lost track of myself for a time then
Carl was carrying pot when he died
The theory was that he had a habit
Got him in to trouble that night
Doesn't sound like the gung-ho fighter pilot I married
How about the guy who came home to you in '72?
I don't think about that man
I'd rather remember Carl as he was before
He was strong
He was a hero, I was his wife
Would you have known if he was doing drugs? /No
We really tried
We just never got to know each other ever again
This is very romantic
Did you turn into a champagne girl while I was gone?
Come on, now
After sleeping for years with a guy in skivvies, showered once a week
I'm finally looking good
Remember when I broke up with you?
You left a pathetic note in my parents' mail box
'I need to be free'
You came up to me in the parking lot and I'm thinking
'Oh, no, here she comes She'd better not cry'
Remember?
I knew better than you even then
'Carl, I got your note I don't think so'
That's right
I feel 18
What is it, your shoulders?
It's OK Come back
Honey, no Not if it hurts you
Come on
We'll dance later when you're better
I don't want you to pretend it doesn't hurt
Let me pretend!
My arms have been broken 4 times
They're busted They'll always be
I, I can't lift 'em I can't dance
Sorry
I should make sure Ned didn't wake up
I'm goin' for a walk
You don't need to wait for me
He'd go for walks
For hours
Is that when this started?
Any idea where'd he go on these walks?
I didn't know where Carl was, truly
Even when he was right in front of me
But you two stayed together
Hoping somehow we'd find what we lost
But before we could,
he was gone again
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
So, you're not the kind doc sees patients?
No, I'm the kind who does the research
Better hours?
Better company
So where did the bracelets turn up?
Stashed away In a crack house
Were they in the box?
Yeah, there was a box
I made that thing
Thinkin' is, your dad wanted to buy drugs,
maybe he got desperate, tried to pawn the bracelets
Not exactly what you want to believe about your father but
We know you were young when he got home / 7
You remember anything that looking back makes you think he was usin'?
No In fact from the day he got back he never missed Triple Nickel Reveille
- Wakin' up early? - 5:55 AM
Exercised best he could, started his day
Not junkie behavior
When'd'ya last see those bracelets?
First week he was back, he put 'em in the basement
He wasn't big on war mementos
- Tryin' to move on - Yeah
Anyone around back then who could of got in the way of that?
There was someone Who we shouldn't of even known about
Liberty City Zoo
So these people, they made me stay over in Vietnam
That why you didn't write me any letters?
Only way I could even talk to my friends there
was through a secret code we made up
A secret code?
Well each letter has its own number of taps
We'd spell out words on the walls between our rooms
Wow Like, could you do an N?
Do E
D
That's my name, right?
That's Ned in your secret code
Do another
I don't know, what's it mean?
I said 'bear' Wanna go see the bears?
When I come here with Ken, we always go see the lions first
Who's Ken?
Mommy's friend
What kind of friend?
Well he takes me to the zoo and he takes Mommy to dinner
At some level I knew I shouldn't have said that
'Cause you knew this Ken was your mom's special friend?
Guess I was a little messed up about the dueling father figures
Because truthfully, I knew Ken a lot better than my dad at that point
Your dad follow up with this guy?
Not that I heard about
If I spent 5 years in a box getting tortured
while some guy's taking my wife to dinner
I'd follow up
Janet Burton didn't mention anyone on the scene while Carl was gone?
Played the pained and patient wife
Not big on airing dirty laundry
Doesn't she want to know what happened to Carl?
Seemed afraid of what we might find,
him not turning out to be the perfect hero
- The house with the bracelets - Yeah, what'd you find?
Back in '73, place still had renters
before crack ran 'em out
One of 'em, Ken Westin
Our perfect wife's boyfriend
Step lively lively, quietly
Giving you a heads up, Dorothy
Tour groups heading to ceramics, over
- Ken Westin? - Absolutely
Detective Valens, homicide
Mind if I ask you to step to this side of the rope here, please
We found some POW bracelets hidden in your old house, Ken
Belonged to a murder victim Carl Burton?
Whoa Carl's bracelets?
I must've left those when I moved
Why were they in your house in the first place?
Already got the skinny on your relationship with Janet,
so you can pick up from there
I'm confessin' to the act of a heart-sick young man, OK?
I took 'em The day she broke up with me
To make myself feel better, I snatched the bracelets
- Low, I know - It's real low, Ken
- The guy was a POW - I appreciate that
I was over there, too 11 months before illness befell me
So, let's say the bracelet snatch doesn't do the trick and your still stewin'
Makes me wonder where you were, the night Carl got shot
I was at Smokie's, my regular night spot, sheesh!
I stole from the guy I did not wish him to be dead
Know anyone who might've?
I'll tell you this, when he came back,
Carl wasn't exactly winning friends and influencing people
- What d'you mean? - A little unstable
And you'd know how?
Did some research, check up on the guy,
make sure he was worthy
I asked you to take that down, Wes
You kiddin' me hero?
That signs worth at least two cars a month
I mean three if I could teach you a little hustle
She's a beauty
Can I send you home together today?
Oh, hello I need to think about it
Excuse me, man
You can't keep showin' up here Daniel
- You gonna talk to me? - No!
Well you gotta some day
The kid's got hustle washing cars for free, you know?
I told you to beat it
Look, I just wanna know about my dad
OK, I've asked you three times, now I'm doing your work for you,
- I mean what's it gonna take? - Leave this alone
- Leave my father alone? - Believe me,
there are some things you don't wanna know
Now get outta here!
You know, I've been real nice to you, Carl
You're gonna wish you were nicer to me
So, who was this kid Daniel?
I can't say for sure,
since I was no longer a member of the inner circle
But this looked like a personal thing to you?
The kid got under Carl's skin
And I'd done enough research
That was the last time I saw the moody son of a gun
Ken Westin was a mistake, he was a neighborhood guy,
kept me company while Carl was
Oh, he was pretty wounded when you two broke up
Stole Carl's bracelets
Ken did it? Oh, for Pete's sakes
Think he would've gone a step farther? Got into it with Carl?
Confrontation was not Ken's style
Janet, do you know anything about a kid named Daniel?
Yeah Daniel He was
- Would coffee help you? - No
Daniel Potter, his father Rex was a POW with Carl
Didn't make it home
It was Rex's memorial Carl went to the day he died
Have any idea why Carl and Daniel were fighting at the car dealership?
Daniel was hounding Carl
Trying to get stuff out of him about his father
But Carl wouldn't talk about that
He saw horrible things in that prison camp
He wouldn't revisit them for anyone, not me, not Daniel
When he said no to Daniel?
The kid put a rock through our window
He was angry at the world
But, taking it out on Carl
About their age? When your dad was in prison? / Yeah
Must've been rough
Never knowing if he was comin' home
Well I thought it would be easier somehow
if I knew the details of what he was going through
- But Carl wouldn't say - He was trying to protect me
Pretty understanding for a guy who threw a rock at Carl's house
Yeah, well that was awful
You take it any further?
Me being angry with Carl stopped with the rock
Yeah? Why?
He caught me red handed
finally he gave me what I wanted
- You gonna pay to fix that? - Let go of me / - No
you wanna talk, let's talk
- Go ahead We're getting this over with - Where's my dad?
- Still in prison in Hanoi - Why? What did he do?
He's an American soldier To the North Vietnamese that's a crime
What's it like there? The prison?
There's not a lot to eat Water makes you sick
Guards are monsters in human clothes
But your dad and the other guys, they have each other
Can't they just get together and break out of there?
I mean my dad can take some Vietnamese guy
Maybe he will
- Is he gonna live? - Yes
Your dad's one of the strongest people I've ever met
If I had to trek in hell, he's a guy I'd want by my side
He's comin' home to you
You guys are brave You are Carl
I knew it
Your dad, he's a hero Not me
I'm a coward
Coward?
Why would Carl say that about himself?
It doesn't make sense, right?
Survived five years of being tortured
Humble guy
Or troubled
Ever get the feeling he really meant that, Daniel?
Saw him a few times after that Talked to him about my dad
But every time I could always feel it Somethin' was eatin' him up
Carl Burton's military service record
I don't see anything in there that could make the guy call himself a coward
Awarded bronze star, purple heart
Oh, this is it He took early release
What's that
It means he left the prison camp early
Thought you couldn't leave
Well, not under honorable circumstances
The code of conduct among POWs is that the sickest and longest serving go first
But Carl wasn't either of those
Then how does he get to the front of the line?
Tells the VC guards what they want to hear,
lets 'em use 'em for propaganda
That doesn't sound like a gung-ho fighter pilot
- Why would he do that? - Why?
He's sick of gettin' beat nearly to death five years in a row,
misses family, he's stowed in solitary
It's hard to know what a code like that starts to mean at that point
But a lot of guys did hang in
Yeah, hundreds of 'em and they would not have been fans of Carl's
And they came home a week before Carl was killed
End of March '73, main group of POWs got back
Any of 'em come back to Philly?
A guy named Raitt from Antioch
Roger Raitt, a Navy Commander?
You know him?
I served with him
Been a long time
I'm not much for the reunions
Truth be told, I'm not either but working in the defense industry,
- it pays to keep in touch - Sure
There's one this Saturday, in Old City
I can't make small talk out of it, I'd rather just leave it behind
And here you are, carrying a gun every day
That's what I couldn't revisit
Roger, I wanna talk to you about a guy you were in prison with, Carl Burton?
Wound up dead, shot Right after you guys got back
I remember / Comin' home it had to be hard to adust
It made me realize any day I wake up
with a doorknob on the inside of the door, it's a good day
Maybe someone else didn't see it that way,
came back angry, wanting to settle a score?
Everyone has a breaking point
Carl reached his over there
I didn't respect it but I understood
Hard to imagine all the POWs did
We were like brothers, John,
one of them went after Carl, I would've know
I'm talkin' about a lot of soldiers and a guy they thought was a traitor
We'd only been home a week and all of us already knew
Carl's worst punishment was living with what he did
Rex's 51st bombing run
He gets hit Ejects
Comes down outside Hanoi
Spends a few hours hiding in a cave, trying to get up enough strength to move
But when he hears a North Vietnamese patrol, he takes off on a broken leg,
with only his pistol to hold off 20 guys chasing him
For hours Rex dragged himself along just ahead of them
Till he comes to this hollowed out tree and squeezes in
How dare you
I'm here to pay my respects
- How dare you sneak in here! - Mom, stop it!
You don't know what this man did to your father, Daniel
Let's calm down We're here for Rex
Rex wouldn't want you here
You betrayed him Betrayed everyone
You're a disgrace
- Daddy? - OK, Ned
I'm sorry, Ruth
Carl
I think it's better if you don't go to the reception / Yeah
- I'll tell the guys that - Tell them I died over there, Roger
Tell them I'm already a ghost
Guys who stuck it out, resisted the most,
did better when we got home
The ones who gave in had a tougher time / Yeah
How bad do you think it was for Carl?
Bad enough I thought he'd kill himself
The gun was found 5 feet away from his body
You remember how long it takes a man to die from a gut shot
Might've crawled away after
But who commits suicide by shooting themselves in the stomach?
Guy aiming for his heart whose arms don't work anymore
Could be my last cheesesteak for a while / Oh, yeah?
- Julie's talkin' about tofu - Lieutenant
Miller, how are you doing?
Just dropped a guy in lock up
How's the Burton case pannin' out?
Nick Veera, this is Kat Miller,
she's the one that turned up the POW bracelets
- Good work - Thanks
So?
Well the latest is, Carl might have commited suicide
A close fire would have left lead residue on his clothes, right?
Labs checkin'
So, I hear you're doin' well over in narcotics
Oh, good I like it, so
Is that your long term area of interest?
I never thought I'd be a cop in the first place
so I'm game for whatever crops up
I thought bein' in blue was every girls' dream
You got somethin' else on mind?
It's a long story But, here I am
- My options are open - That's good to know
Ken Westin copped to takin' your dad's bracelets
Ken did? Really?
Dumb reaction to your mom dropping him
Does that maybe make the drug scenario less likely? / Maybe
Ned, there was an incident at Rex Potter's memorial
- The day your father died - Yeah, I remember it
The rest of the POWs took issue with your dad showing up
We could see it in their faces when we walked in They hated him
Must've been pretty crushing for him / Yeah
One of those POWs thinks
maybe he couldn't take it any longer
You mean killed himself?
However he died, Ned,
it ain't gonna change what he was to you
I know a reason why he might have killed himself
Me What I did
Hey, buddy
I know it's not fun to be around people yelling like that
It's OK
I love you
Me, too, Daddy
So you don't mind if I eat all your ice cream?
You could have your own
- So, what can I get you guys? - Bomb pop, please
Hey, I remember you,
you came in last summer with your dad
I'm his dad Carl Burton, hi
No, it was another man A soldier
He'd been over in a Vietnam prison camp,
had some break your heart stories about it
I was not here last summer, I was
that was not me
I'm sure it was this little boy Who was that?
Who was it, Ned?
Ken
Ken was
not a POW Did he use my name?
Told this lady he was your dad? / Yes
And you let him Why Ned?
I don't know
So Ken's not just moving in on Carl's wife while he's gone
He's pretending to be him
I was with him a few times when he did it
Didn't stop him
You were 7
But I knew it was wrong
So after your dad found out?
Marched me home, went down to the basement for a while, then left
- Where was your mom? - Asleep
Has been ever since
Lab results are back
No traces of lead on Carl's clothes, that rules out suicide
So even if that was what Carl was thinking that night,
someone got to him first
If it's me,
I'm heading' after the guy posin' as my kid's dad
Says here Carl was at Rex Potter's funeral reception
Even after Roger Raitt told him not to show
Ken lived near the Potters, knew them
So maybe he's at the reception, that's where Carl goes lookin' for him
After Carl gets something out of the basement, maybe a weapon,
he goes to confront Ken
And never makes it back
Westin spent four months in Texas in '71,
waiting to be shipped out
Had a nervous breakdown Discharged before he left US soil
All right
- You want us in there? - I got it
Sorry to pull you from work, Ken
- I needed to talk to you - Oh, sure
So, it sounds like Carl Burton was comin' apart at the seams when he got back
Yeah, he seemed to have trouble adjusting
It's tough to watch that
Guys over there snappin' out
Gotta go home, get out of here
You can see they're never gonna be the same
- You know what I mean - Oh, I do
Everybody going, "crap, so-and-so lost it"
But in the back of your mind, you're thinking "I'm with him"
- In your weak moments - You lay schemin' at night
Come close to doin' some crazy stuff, yeah
So Carl turns up at this funeral reception
where he's disinvited, what was it like?
Antagonistic
He's looking for trouble
So you saw him the night he died?
That's funny, 'cause you didn't tell us that,
you said you were at the bar tossin' back a few when Carl was shot
Yep Went there after
OK, then So that was a lie you told us?
Not intentionally
It's been a long time
Memory's middle aged now
That's OK It's a small time lie for you
Does that bother you Ken?
'Cause it doesn't seem violent to me, I'm used to it
Maybe because guns have been a part of me since I was a kid
I was 17 years old when I went over there
I thought it was a toy
Until I watched a few men die slowly
But you know what I'm talking about
What this does
Not because you're a soldier, because we know you weren't
Ah, Lieutenant
How long did Carl bleed?
This is serious!
How long did Carl bleed?
I could never
In extreme circumstances, you learn about human nature
But what kind of person would pretend to be a POW?
I'd like a lawyer
Why? What did you do?
I didn't do anything to Carl
Well you took what belonged to him and walked around like it was yours
Do you really think someone who had a nervous breakdown at Fort Hood
would survive five years in the Hanoi Hilton?
It's a bad lie you told
I know I know
I think I may have a disease
You tell people you're a racecar driver, a brain surgeon
Not a POW
Now talk about that night
Carl confronted you at that reception / Yes
And what did you do?
Nothing
Got called out
I didn't have much time, after I parachuted down
I had to start my escape on a busted leg
- I hear you wanna be me - Excuse me?
Well, might as well take these
Use my name, my wife, my kid
So now you got everything that means a damn thing to me
Carl, this is akward
You have something wrong with you, you know that?
Well that's the pot callin' the kettle black
- You're a fraud - Daniel, I'm sorry
Hey Carl, let's play a game
This is a grenade And you're you
- Daniel - Get away from me
And that's how you got the bracelets
A few minutes later,
Daniel left the house,
went after Carl
I told your detective the kid was a problem
Yeah, well You're a real solid judge of character, Ken
We found out the truth that day, huh, Daniel
- What truth? - About Carl
Wasn't the guy you thought
He was, underneath
Hearing about early release didn't change that
So why the big scene at the reception?
You were real keyed up
- Giving Carl what for - Called him a fraud
Look, Vietnam was complicated
The POWs are getting tortured
and all they hear from America is that this war's a mistake
I get it I get Carl throwing in the towel
See, that's interesting but that's what an adult thinks
Then what does a 15 year old who just lost his dad think?
That Carl abandoned Rex Potter to die
And he runs home with his tail between his legs
while your dad was still takin' it
- Busted limbs, broken teeth - Don't talk about my dad
You don't know what it was like for him
But Carl did
And he still left him there
I got one letter from my dad
but the government blacked it out halfway
He took the time to write me and they blacked it out
I thought I could get the black off
I put it in water
The only letter he sent
I just wanted to know him
He was gone a long time
I thought that Carl could help me
Fill in the gap
And he was right
I didn't wanna know
You wanna just follow me or do you wanna talk?
I wanna ask you some things
Are you stoned?
Do not get into this
- This is bad news - Shut up
This time we're talkin' and you're gonna answer me for real
After you left today the other POWs told me that you gave up
Said things you should be ashamed of and then left my dad to die
Is that true?
Is it true, Carl?
I left the prison
- And your dad was still there - You left him, all his friends said it
I didn't want anything to happen to him
But I had to go home
They played you on a loudspeaker in prison
and everyone heard you say that the war was wrong
You said they were war criminals and that the Vietnamese saved you!
I said things I didn't mean because I wanted to get home!
Why? Why couldn't you do it like my dad?
Because they broke me! They chained us up
They kicked our teeth in, they killed our friends
That's what they did
To my dad?
To all of us
And I couldn't do it one more day
I wanted to see my wife, my son
You saying my dad didn't want to see me?
- Daniel, put that down - Answer me!
Daniel he was crazy about you!
Why didn't he come home then?
Because he wouldn't give in
He was the toughest guy I ever met
He could stick it out and I couldn't
What if they were breaking his arms and kicking his teeth,
while he heard you saying that stuff over the loudspeaker? / Daniel!
he heard you say he was wrong! And he wasn't! He wasn't!
Carl, I think I hit you bad
Go, don't be here, go! It's OK!
Carl, I didn't mean it!
Go! Run!
* Gordon Lightfoot
* If you could read my mind love *
* What a tale my thoughts could tell *
* Just like an old time movie *
* ¡¯bout a ghost from a wishin¡¯ well *
* In a castle dark or a fortress strong *
* With chains upon my feet *
* You know that ghost is me *
* And I will never be set free *
* As long as I¡¯m a ghost
* If I could read your mind love *
* What a tale your thoughts could tell *
* Just like a paperback novel *
* The kind that drugstores sell *
* When you reach the part
* The hero would be me *
* But heroes often fail *
* And you won¡¯t read that book again *
* Because the ending¡¯s
* If you could read my mind love *
* What a tale my thoughts could tell *
* Just like an old time movie *
* ¡¯bout a ghost from a wishin¡¯ well *
* In a castle dark or a fortress strong *
* With chains upon my feet *
* But stories always end *
* And if you read between the lines *
* You¡¯ll know that I¡¯m just
* The feelin¡¯s that you lack *
* I never thought I could feel this way *
* And I¡¯ve got to say
* I don¡¯t know where we went wrong *
* But the feelin¡¯s gone *
* And I just can¡¯t get it back *