(playful music)
- My dad never knew his father.
In 1957, when he was 31 years old,
he died in a freak accident.
My dad was just three at the time.
And so he grew up never knowing the man
who helped bring him into the world.
The only piece of him that he has
and as far as I know, the only piece he's ever seen
is an Air Force portrait that he keeps on his dresser.
You may remember my dad from a video last year
where I made a recreation of a hot sauce
that he used to sell that was stolen from him.
And while I was digging through old photos and documents
to do some research in order to make that video,
I came across something.
A box of eight millimeter film labeled Beverly children.
Beverly was my dad's name at birth
but it was also his father's name.
And upon closer inspection of one of the reels,
a man can be seen who looks remarkably like my father.
He's holding a child,
presumably either my dad or his brother.
And I'm almost certain, my dad has never seen this footage.
So today I want to try and give him a look at his father
for the first time in his life.
Thankfully, the film is already developed.
It would be nearly impossible to develop 70-year-old film,
especially stuff that hasn't been well stored
like this hasn't been.
But aside from looking at the frames one by one
I don't really have a great way to view
what's on these reels.
So I'm taking them to a local processor
to see if I can get them digitized.
One of the reels
is in a bit better condition than the other,
but I'm hopeful we can get something out of both.
They said the footage is gonna take about a week to process.
So in the meantime, I want to learn
a little bit more about my grandfather,
or at least whatever my dad can tell me.
- He was in the Air Force.
He was a member of the Jolly Rogers unit.
He was a gunner pilot.
Flew 22 missions in the Korean War.
I didn't see him, obviously, a lot.
Slim, slim memories of him, not hardly nothing.
He's like a fog.
I remember our house distinctly we all lived in,
but I didn't see him much
probably because he was in the Korean War.
When he got out of the Air Force,
he got tons of job offers in Memphis
and he refused all jobs.
He wanted to go to Florida after the war.
He just wanted to be a bartender in Florida
for a year or two, until he settled down.
- [Dakota] I can imagine that after being in a war
you want to kind of do something relaxing for a little bit.
- Yeah, especially being a gunner pilot, 22 missions
knowing what you were doing with your bullets.
The Jolly Rogers made a book
and it had the whole crew in the book.
It was a picture book.
My father DD threw it away.
Only pictures of him I had.
That's the memories I have,
only going, oh my God, this is him, this is what he did.
And what a tragedy, I'd have that book forever.
When he drowned, I remember standing outside of a motel
at night and I've never forget the fluorescent lights
as the old 1950s motel over my head.
My grandmother standing there,
I must've known that they were looking for my father.
And I remember finding out about his death
when I was back home in Memphis.
I was sitting in the living room floor, four years old
and the maid was there.
She was ironing.
And all of a sudden, the front door swings open
and this neighborhood boy runs in and goes
your daddy's dead, your daddy's dead, your daddy's dead.
And that's how I found out.
The maid grabbed him and threw him out the front door.
That's a distinct memory.
Not many people drowned water-skiing,
but I'm sure that he wasn't wearing a life preserver.
And I'm sure they'd been all drinking.
And I'm sure who was driving was wasted.
'Cause he, that's him.
He was that a party boy.
And my mom was there and Betty Jo, her best friend with Bob.
We were only in Memphis for probably another year or two
at the most.
We moved to Atlanta.
So yeah, I don't have a lot of memories.
I wish I did.
It's, it's unfortunate.
I never got to know him.
(dramatic music)
- Oh my goodness.
He looks so much like my dad.
I couldn't have hoped for anything better than this.
So now I have to drive to Vermont to show it to him.
I know this drive is going to be filled
with nervous anticipation
because I truly don't know how he's gonna react to this.
I just really hope it makes him happy.
- Oh my God.
Oh my God.
That's my father.
How did you have this made?
Oh God.
Man, first live video I've ever seen of him.
Now he's walking down, this is Vero Beach.
He says, come on.
This is a year before he died.
And he's in the water where he drowned.
He's got a cigarette, he was always burning me with it.
We're opening up presents it looks like.
I'm trying to decide if he looks like my brother or me.
Camera hog.
That must be my brother.
No, oh, there's my mother.
What a great picture of my mother.
She was so lovely.
Can't believe he died a year from this.
This happy man.
Life would have been so different.
I can't believe this, Dakota.
Never seen him.
Isn't that amazing?
I've never, wow.
I'm pretty well choked up right now.
This is where we went every year.
Even after he died, we went until I was probably 15, 16.
Oh my God.
This is so great having this.
I mean, I just, I can't believe I'm this age
and now I'm just looking at my father for the first time.
- [Dakota] That's it.
- Thank you, Dakota.
That's the nicest thing in the world.
And now I'm just like, oh my God, I can't believe it.
All I have, the only thing I have
is that one picture of him upstairs.
I'm amazed.
Look at my father and my mother at that age.
They were a nice looking couple.
Boy, these pictures, Dakota.
It's like he's real.
I mean, he's alive and he's real.
And knowing that that's how far away from his death.
- [Dakota] It's less than a year.
- And now I have a vivid picture of my father right now.
It's right in front of me.
I can see him, I'll see him forever now.
(happy music)