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Grief unites soldiers’ mothers at Arlington
The mothers who visit their sons' graves have formed a special bond, offering each other — and any new mothers who join them — something other friends and family cannot. “You cut through to that deep...
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Sons’ love for missing dad plumbs sea’s depths
Jim Abele commanded a U.S. submarine that disappeared off the coast of Alaska in 1942. Last fall, the Navy confirmed that after a seven-year search, Abele’s sons had solved one of World War II's...
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Washington: The man who wouldn’t be king?
Legend has it that George Washington could have been king of America, but chose to be president instead. And in Texas today, even the descendants who would have inherited the throne if he’d accepted it...
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They’ll star you in your own romance novel
Fletch Fletcher and Kathy Newbern have written 18 successful books together. For 50 bucks, they’ll make you and the person of your choice the heroes of your own customized romance novel. But their...
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His robot legs may lift people from wheelchairs
In school, Monty Reed struggled with a learning disability. Then, after a parachute mishap, doctors told him he’d never walk again. But today he not only walks, he’s invented robotic legs that may lift...
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To honor fallen comrades, they wash the Wall
For 15 years, Michael G. Najarian, 65, has risen before dawn to clean the names of fellow veterans on the Vietnam Memorial Wall. For him and for many other old soldiers who perform the service for...
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He adds names to lost graves of the mentally ill
An estimated 100,000 patients of mental institutions are buried in unmarked graves nationwide. Bud Merritt has helped put names to some of them. “People have expressed the attitude to me that it would...
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Looking at Lady Liberty from fresh perspectives
As the Statue of Liberty’s interior reopens to the public, Bob Dotson recalls a classic American Story from 1983, when he made a dizzying ascent with a daredevil photographer who shot Lady Liberty from...
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Mom goes distance for son in Iraq: 6,436 miles
Vivian White, 51, is determined to run nearly 6,500 miles — the distance from her home in Illinois to her son's front-line Army post in Iraq. “Every mile that I run brings him that much closer to being...
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Poling on the river: He’s the last of the ferrymen
Ashley Pillar, 30, is the last of the old-fashioned river ferrymen, using a 15-foot pole to propel a barge carrying people and cars across the James River in Virginia. But its voyage through the past...
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Sad development: The last Kodachrome film lab
Fifty years ago, 2,000 film labs in the U.S. processed Kodachrome. Now, Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas, is the last one — in the entire world. “It’s kind of pride mixed with sadness, because Kodak...
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Last of eight World War II-vet siblings fights on
Wal-Mart greeter Carl Grossman, 90, is the last of the Fighting Grossmans — eight brothers who fought in World War II simultaneously. Today, as Bob Dotson reveals in an Emmy-winning report, he’s...
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Video: Legacy of a Park Avenue potato peeler
Jan. 1: Bob Dotson takes a look at Joe Ades, a salesman who passed away last year but left behind an impressive work ethic. (TODAY)
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‘Candy man’ gives sweet solution to ex-workers
Bob Dotson revisits Bud Kolbrener, who came out of retirement and started a new candy company just to provide work for ex-employees who had lost their jobs — and reveals the surprising outcome of...
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8-year-old superhero wields great power: Music
At Seattle Children’s Hospital, Bob Dotson visits Rishi Nair, a young kidney recipient and musician who collaborated with Hollywood composer Mateo Messina to raise funds for sick kids through a...
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For this clan, Naval Academy is all in the family
The Dishers are the first family to have every member graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy. In 1980, Sharon Hanley Disher was one of the first female graduates; now her three children, including a twin...
View ArticleIs there still gold in them thar Montana hills?
Marysville, Mont., once had three newspapers, 27 saloons and 5,000 residents mining gold. Today it’s mainly a mother lode of memories — but one Canadian company thinks there’s still gold in them thar...
View ArticleEmpty mansions are legacy of a mystery heiress
Huguette Clark inherited fabulous wealth of the Gilded Age, then withdrew into a gilded cage. What will become of her vast fortune is as mysterious as the woman herself, who at age 104 occupies a drab...
View ArticleEarning a chance at a Nobel (and Lyle Lovett tickets)
Bob Dotson’s producer reveals what went on behind the scenes of Dotson’s profile of Nobel laureate Mario Capecchi — including a surprise encounter with a music superstar.
View ArticleFrom streets of Italy to Nobel Prize in America
Mario Capecchi learned concentration and determination as a homeless 4-year-old in World War II Italy. Decades later in America, those qualities led him to him to Nobel Prize-winning work that may save...
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