
Appraisal: Vietnam POW Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Stirm Archive
Clip: Special | 4m 23sVideo has Closed Captions
Appraisal: Vietnam POW Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Stirm Archive
Watch Joel Bohy's appraisal of a Vietnam POW Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Stirm Archive from Filoli, Hour 1.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Appraisal: Vietnam POW Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Stirm Archive
Clip: Special | 4m 23sVideo has Closed Captions
Watch Joel Bohy's appraisal of a Vietnam POW Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Stirm Archive from Filoli, Hour 1.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipGUEST: Today, I brought the clothes# that were worn by my father when he## was a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
He was shot#down... captured.
And he was in a variety of different#prisoner... he was at the, the infamous French prison#Hoa Lo, also kn... APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: And that he.. APPRAISER: Did he have any other interesting,#uh, people that...
GUEST: Oh, absolutely.
He told me a great#story that the fi... in jail was a joke that John McCain# had tapped through the wall.
They were## sharing a wall while they were both in solitary#confineme... APPRAISER: (chuckling) So John#McCain tapped the joke...
GUEST: Tapped the joke to him.
Yes.
APPRAISER: Wow.
Wow.
GUEST: John McCain was shot#down the day befo.. and they were repatriated the same#day in order of their sh... APPRAISER: Wow.
Wow, well, he was a, uh, F-105#Thunderchi...
GUEST: Thud pilot, yes, yes.
APPRAISER: Yup, yup.
And we have#some great th.. uh, top and trousers, um, from#jail, uh, from the pri...
GUEST: Yes, from jail.
APPRAISER: ...with his prisoner numbers on them.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: Um, we've got his bag, uh, with more material in there.
And the bag# has the original Red Cross tag on it.
GUEST: Yeah, this is the original#Red Cross tag.
And t... tag right here was written by the North#Vietnamese and t... APPRAISER: And we've got a pair of#sandals that he wore...
GUEST: Yes, the Vietnamese said# that those were made out of the## tires of the airplane that he was shot down in.
APPRAISER: Hm.
GUEST: So it was mental cruelty right there, too.
APPRAISER: Right.
GUEST: That he had to walk in those shoes.
APPRAISER: And what about the spoon?
GUEST: The spoon, that was# his spoon when he was, uh,## for-for all his meals.
And in an act of# defiance, he etched a thunderbolt in the## bowl of the spoon.
I guess it was just his# own little way to have some sort of control.
APPRAISER: Right, right.
And then one of the# most iconic things here, because I remember## it as a kid, um, I remember this picture,# is the one right here.
Tell us about that.
GUEST: This picture is called Burst of Joy.
It# was taken at Travis Air Force Base on March 17,## 1973.
Um, this was the first moment we saw my dad.# When the aircraft landed, we were in a car behind## the aircraft on the tarmac, and then they said,# "You can get out now."
So we just burst out of## the car and started running to my dad.
And it was# captured by Sal Veder, uh, an A.P.
photographer,## and he won the Pulitzer Prize in photography for# this picture, the Burst of Joy.
The photograph## was given to me personally by Sal in 1990; he# signed it, "Lorrie, with best wishes, Sal Veder."
APPRAISER: Wow.
And where are you?
GUEST: (laughs) I'm known as# "the leaper" or "the jumper.” APPRAISER: "The leaper?” (laughs) Well, I gotta# say, if it was my dad, I'd be leap..
GUEST: We were very excited.
APPRAISER: I'm sure.
And I remember this# as a kid.
I remember seeing it .. and I also remember the video footage of him,# uh, leaving North Vietnam with John McCain.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: Great stuff.
Um, and ..
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: ...that goes ..
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: I'm having a hard time, too.
GUEST: (chuckling) Yeah, it-it is, it touches.
APPRAISER: Um, so as an auction estimate,# it would be in the $2,500 to $3,000 range... APPRAISER: ...which doesn't seem# like a whole lot.
However, um,## the historical value on this is absolutely# priceless.
Um, and what a moving story it is.
GUEST: My dad is alive.
He is doing fabulous.# Uh, he's healthy.
He's well.
He's 89 years old.
APPRAISER: Wow.
Well, please, uh, tell him# when you get home, thank you for his service.
GUEST: Thank you, I will.
He'll be# very pleased to hear that, thank you.
Appraisal: 1956 Gustave Baumann Rain in the Mountains Print
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: Special | 4m 49s | Appraisal: 1956 Gustave Baumann Rain in the Mountains Print (4m 49s)
Appraisal: Charles Marion Russell Mixed Media, ca. 1915
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: Special | 3m 19s | Appraisal: Charles Marion Russell Mixed Media, ca. 1915 (3m 19s)
Appraisal: Nez Perce Beaded Child's Vest, ca. 1900
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: Special | 4m 4s | Appraisal: Nez Perce Beaded Child's Vest, ca. 1900 (4m 4s)
Appraisal: Pairpoint Puffy Owl Lamp, ca. 1907
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: Special | 3m 24s | Appraisal: Pairpoint Puffy Owl Lamp, ca. 1907 (3m 24s)
Appraisal: Roy De Forest Gouache Paintings, ca. 1955
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: Special | 3m 11s | Appraisal: Roy De Forest Gouache Paintings, ca. 1955 (3m 11s)
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