Original subtitles

My name is Dr. Francis B. Gross,

and again I invite you to join me

as I travel through the world of the dead.

Several months after I completed my first study,

I realized that some of my original theories

were no longer valid.

My optimism regarding life after death

has greatly diminished.

Still, there is one hope, that our body suffers

little pain and that our mind will end

on a thought unaffected by the fear of dying.

The ritual of commemorating the dead

has a history which dates back to the beginning

of man kind.

There is no group on earth that doesn't have

some kind of ceremony which acknowledges

the death of a loved one.

Many extraordinary customs have resulted from man's

realization of death.

In the14th century, people were hired

to rouse the ghost.

Their job was to attempt to bring the deceased

back to life.

This strange ritual eventually produced

the practice of necrophilia.

By making love to the dead, it was believed

that sexual arousal would bring the spirit of life

back into the body of one who recently died.

This custom of the Middle Ages led to a greater

understanding in the finality of death.

As time passed, man realized that those

who died would never physically return to life.

Religion then introduced another concept of death,

it conceived the belief that the soul

or Holy Spirit travels beyond this earthly plane

when the physical being ceases to exist.

In some countries, as hamlets became villages

and villages grew into towns,

graveyards had to be modified to provide

accommodations for the bodies

of future generations.

Carnal houses were created to house

the bones of the dead who were removed

from the cemetery after a certain number of years.

Upon being blessed by a priest,

the deceased's remains were placed on display

for loved ones to visit.

The time is 1981, graveyards still exist,

but death has now become

a multi-billion dollar industry.

Today a person can choose their style of wardrobe

and in which manner they want to be secured

for their eternal rest.

Shopping for a casket is similar to buying a car,

the more money you pay, the more lavish

your coffin will appear.

The fee for a normal funeral runs about $3,500.

Of course, you have to pay an extra fee

for the embalming process and any necessary

cosmetic touch-ups.

Funerals lie at the very innermost core

of life's experience.

It is a time of introspection where we

honor and value fond memories of a person

we shall never forget.

A Hindu cremation presents a striking

contrast to a Western burial.

The banks of the Ganges River are considered

the most desirable place for the ceremony.

To prepare their dead for cremation,

the body is bathed in oil,

and then with soap and nut powder,

among other preparations.

The Hindus believe at death the soul is trapped

in the skull.

Therefore, it is imperative that the skull will

explode during the burning process.

The mourners of a loved one

sprinkle holy water on the deceased

and take purification baths

during the cremation.

They also shave their heads in deference

to the departed.

For the Hindu, death represents a liberation

of the soul.

Their ceremony of cremation ensures

that the spirit of the departed will have

the chance to be reborn once again.

It's one thing to witness the cremation of the dead,

but the horror of being burned alive

is a truly agonizing face of death.

The residents of this West German

apartment building were the victims

of a furnace explosion.

Within seconds, their apartment became

a burning inferno.

Although firemen worked furiously to extinguish

this out-of-control blaze, their efforts

to save those trapped inside the building

proved unsuccessful.

On that cold January morning in1979,

18 of the 20 residents that occupied

this building lost their lives.

Those who weren't asphyxiated by the massive

amounts of toxic smoke, were eventually

burned alive.

This particular man suffered third-degree

burns on his hands, legs and face.

A special preparation was applied to the burned

areas of his body to promote healing

and reduce infection.

An emergency tracheotomy had to be performed

so that the victim could breathe.

Unfortunately, even the advanced treatment

administered by the burn center specialist

could not keep this man alive.

When the warmth of springtime begins

to melt the snow,

a new setting for death is created.

At any moment, a disaster can occur

capable of turning a beautiful panorama

of natural magnificence into an explosive wall

of destruction.

This white blanket of death

is called an avalanche.

When the snow begins to rumble down the mountain,

anything in its path is instantly destroyed.

Brenner Passis located near the border

of Austria and Italy.

In April of 1975, this highway connecting

the two countries became the scene of one

of the worst avalanches in history.

Before this disaster occurred, people had been

warned not to use this route of passage.

Road warnings had been posted

and frequent radio reports admonished drivers

of this expected danger.

But people didn't want to listen,

for many were on holiday and needed to return

to either side of the border.

As a result, many vacationers decided

to challenge this prediction,

and subsequently lost their lives.

In total, 50 people died in this avalanche,

a whole section of Brenner Pass was buried

under more than 14 feet of snow.

Some people never made it out of their cars.

Those who did, had nowhere to go

and froze to death while trying to escape.

Hypothermia is probably one of the most painful

ways to die.

During this process, you literally freeze to death.

The whole disaster could have been avoided

if these people had only heeded the warning signs

of impending danger.

Boxing is perhaps the most brutal of all

professional sports.

Sheer strength, endurance and agility are the major

ingredients of a winner.

Everyone who enters this sport dreams of one day

becoming the next champion.

Their desire for wealth and recognition are great

motivating factors in their quest for the title.

I was born poor, and many nights

I went to bed with an empty stomach.

And I read where guys like Sugar Ray Robinson,

Joe Lewis and all these guys were born

in very poor areas, and, they...

through sports they got recognition,

they got respect, they traveled around theworld

and they got to do things that otherwise they would

have never done.

And, but yet, nothing comes easy in life.

Boxing's a tough life, it's very tough.

Three minutes in the ring of actual fighting

is much more difficult

than two weeks of hard training.

But it's the training that hardens the muscle

and strengthens the fighter's endurance.

Another important element of his training

is the fighting strategy.

He must learn how to throw a punch

and how to protect himself at all times.

If more trainers would take time and teach kids

the difference between coming in

and going backwards, or if they would take more time

to teach this kind of boxing, there...

there would be less people getting hurt in the ring.

Sparring marks the final stage of training.

During these sessions a fighter will learn

to take punches, and to test

his own offensive skills.

Ninety per cent of the boys are not in the physical

condition for a boxer that they should be

at the time of their career for a fight.

On September 19th, 1980,

Johnny Gowens and his managers

felt he was ready.

The fight was a scheduled 15-round title bout

for the Bantam weight Championship of the World.

Gowens' opponent was the reigning champion

from Mexico, Lupe Pintor.

For the first eight rounds,

Johnny Gowens held his own, although his battle wounds

were clearly visible.

The ninth eighth round, Gowens went down

for the first time.

At the end of this round, Johnny Gowens was hurting.

But he was not a quitter, and even though

he was bleeding from his nose and mouth,

continued to battle Pintor

over the next three rounds.

When Johnny Gowens was knocked out

for the second time of the fight,

he seemed totally disoriented.

As a doctor, it seemed obvious to me that

the fight should have been stopped,

but the referee thought otherwise.

Prior to this fight, Gowens had never

been knocked out.

This time when he hit the canvas,

he would never get up.

At the time, Lupe Pintor had no idea

his devastating punch had sent his opponent

into a coma.

At 24years old, Johnny Gowens had subjected

his body to such severe punishment;

he would never even realize he had lost

his match, for this was to be his last fight.

As the doctor worked furiously

to help Gowens regain consciousness,

the people surrounding the fallen fighter

knew he was in serious trouble.

The two knock downs in the twelfth round

had definitely done their damage.

Before finally dying,

Gowens would undergo two brain operations

and would be connected to a life support system

for almost his entire stay at the hospital.

After contracting a respiratory condition

during his coma,

Gowens succumbed to the final count.

If this youngster ever decides to enter

the world of professional boxing,

I wonder what the future has in store.

There is a breed of men who enjoy

taking their machines beyond the normal use

of transportation.

The word impossible is not a part

of their vocabulary.

When the odds seem totally against them,

they are the first to tell you otherwise.

These people are modern day gladiators,

better known in our society

as stunt men or daredevils.

The thrill of putting their lives on the line

is not the key to their profession.

If you talk to any of these professionals,

they'll continually emphasize their own

safety is foremost in any stunt they perform.

But no matter how prepared they may be

in their technical planning,

the risk of death is still something

they must consider.

And yet, the spectators who watch these events

can never be really disappointed,

for they can share its success

or scream at the results of failure.

I have watched a crowd's reaction

when a stunt man has been unsuccessful.

In my mind, there is no doubt that most of them

have held a morbid fascination when viewing

a human disaster.

If you disagree with me, I'll prove my point.

Now it's your turn to be a part of that crowd.

On August 4th, 1974, stunt man Bobby Pesco

attempted unsuccessfully to jump 28cars

on his motorcycle.

After hitting the last car, Pesco's body

was hurled hundreds of yards

on the cement roadway.

Paramedics and track marshals tried frantically

to save his life.

Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain,

for Pesco died a few hours later.

As Pesco's wife held on to her unconscious husband,

spectators tried to get a final glimpse

of the fallen stuntman.

There is no doubt it takes a certain kind

of man to enter this profession.

If Pesco was ever afraid of dying,

at least his end came quickly.

Chuck Strange realized early in his career

that ramp-to-ramp acts in cars and motorcycles

were becoming commonplace.

In late 1975, he found a Chevy dealer willing

to supply him with pick-up trucks

to perform his stunts.

Strange had finally found a vehicle that would make

his act unique.

In November 1978 at the Ontario MotorSpeedway,

Strange attempted a ramp-to-ramp jump

with his pick-up truck,

covering a distance of 98 feet.

During this jump, Strange's truck

was flying at a speed of 50 miles per hour

after taking off from a ramp angled 17 degrees.

This jump was just a prelude to a stunt

he would perform on January 13th, 1978,

in front of 59,000 people at the Houston Astrodome.

During this jump, Strange would attempt

to clear 16 cars.

What made this jump dangerous

was that the Dome's sunken arena floor

was not nearly big enough for him to make a straight

and level approach.

Earlier in the day during his last

practice jump Strange was unaware

that he had peeled back a steel shield

underneath his truck.

As a result, this bent steel dug into the ramp

at take-off, and it caused his truck to veer

to the right.

It took 30 minutes to extricate Strange

from the truck, but he was lucky.

The impact broke one of his ribs,

bruised a kidney, dislocated his elbows,

shattered his forearms, and broke his nose.

When doctors later examined Strange,

they all agreed that it was miraculous

that he had not been killed.

It had been the third time in his career

that he had heard this remark.

You can rest assured that when his injuries

finally heal, this man will be back

ready to challenge death once again.

In 1976, Morrisburg, Canada was thesite

of the greatest car stunt ever performed.

This event was known as the Super Jump.

Stunt man Kenny Powers would attempt the longest

car jump in history.

His goal was to jump the St.Lawrence River;

the distance would be one mile.

An eight-and-a-half story ramp was constructed

for his rocket-powered, Lincoln Continental.

Once the car would leave this ramp,

it would sail one mile over the river,

and land on Gogden Island in the state of New York.

This jump had been in the planning

for over four years.

Over one million dollars had been spent,

and 110,000 yards of dirt had been moved

to construct the special runway.

Kenny Powers will be jumping three times

the distance Evil Knievel had tried to achieve

during his jump at Snake River Canyon.

Powers' car would reach a take-off speed

of 280 miles an hour;

within seconds he would reach

an altitude of 300 feet.

His body would undergo a force of over 30 G's.

This jump had been attempted four times

previously and had to be canceled.

This time, Kenny Powers

knew there was no turning back.

Powers said his final prayers,

his self-confidence was high, any self-doubt

or hesitation could cost him his life.

A helicopter roamed the sky,

while power speed boats and divers

waited on the other side of the river

in case of a disaster.

As the final seconds ticked away,

Powers' young wife became anxious,

would this be the last stunt

he would ever perform.

Powers' jump was unsuccessful.

As rescuers reached the car,

Powers was freeing himself from a special harness.

But nobody knew the extent of his injuries,

his car disintegrated in midair

and landed in the river.

His wife and the crowd waited anxiously for news.

Powers was lucky, he had broken his back.

This was nothing new, for he had suffered

the same injury seven times before.

As he was carried to the ambulance in a state

of semi-consciousness, all that he kept asking was,

did I make it, is everybody pleased.

As the ambulance rushed off

to the hospital, all that remained of his

$1 million attempt were the remains of a yellow,

rocket-powered Continental floating

aimlessly on the banks of the St.Lawrence River.

The dangers of reaching high altitudes

aren't always confined to stuntmen equipped

with a rocket-powered car.

When Flight 2605 left Los Angeles for Mexico City,

another air disaster was entered

into aviation history books.

As the pilot made his descent, he was informed

that the runway lights had malfunctioned.

The control tower instructed the pilot

to line up his jet over an alternate runway.

After the pilot reported he had done so,

the controller warned,

you are at the left of the track.

The pilot replied confidently,

just a little bit.

He was tragically wrong.

As the DC-10 touched down on the runway,

it headed towards a dump truck.

The pilot realized his mistake and tried to lift

his DC-10 back into the air.

It was too late, the plane smashed

into the truck and veered wildly

into a maintenance building

and burst into flames.

The final death count was 73,

and the over-confident pilot

was one of the dead.

The rugged peaks of Mount Barjin

in the country of Iran was the site of another

air disaster.

It was the first crash in Iran's 18-year

aviation history.

The first group of revolutionary guards

to arrive at the crash site, reported they heard

screams as they fought their way

through the snow.

Many of the passengers on the flight

were Shiite pilgrims returning from Mashad

after religious ceremonies

marking the death of prophet Muhammad.

Villagers near the crash site

reportedly saw a flash of light in the sky,

followed by a loud explosion.

I wonder what prayers were said

by the passengers as they realized their religious

journey would end on a note of death.

India's West Bengal state was the scene

of another accident in the realm

of public transportation.

This train was crossing a bridge over

the Falroo River when six coaches separated

and derailed from the main engine.

It took rescuers all day to find

most of the bodies.

Twenty-three passengers died in this accident.

Many of the people were trapped underwater

and drowned.

Relatives who knew passengers on the train

went to the rescue center to find out

about their loved ones.

For some, the news of death caused tears

and sorrow.

None of us ever really know

when our end will come.

Every time we use any kind of modern

transportation, we increase the odds

of our own death.

Is there a solution, I don't really think so.

When it's our time to die,

there is no alternative.

On a typical day in El Salvador,

50 people are killed because somebody

doesn't like their politics.

When the leftist guerrillas hijacked

a bus, they staged their own execution

against some of the passengers

who were government officials.

Thisunique footage was filmed by

a UPI cameraman.

The only reason he was allowed to live

was because the guerrillas felt this incident

would be good publicity.

Their red revolutionary flag was placed

as a warning to the military

of hunt and power.

It has been estimated that if a full-scale

civil war were to break out in El Salvador,

approximately 50,000 or more would die.

That's one out of every 100 persons living

in this country.

The violence that exists here is caused by

two extremist elements, the far right is comprised

of the few who are rich in this country.

They are determined to maintain their wealth,

and refuse to yield to any semblance

of compromise.

To protect themselves, they have hired

death squads and supporters

in the army to kill any Salvadorians

who are trying t change the country's

feudal structure.

In this case, their protection faulted.

The far leftis headed by a hardcore of fanatic

Marxist Leninist guerrillas.

They are the killers responsible

for this execution, and would be content

to create a civil war within their country.

The five million Salvadorians packed

into this land of gentle rolling countryside

are caught between the fighting forces of these

two political factions.

Most citizens want to improve their lives,

but have not yet made the commitment to join

the violence themselves.

The war in Vietnam provided the battleground

for weapons which created horrific results.

The napalm bom was introduced during

World War II, and was used with great effectiveness

in Vietnam.

When dropped from a plane, specially designed

canisters release a jelly like substance

that bursts into flame upon impact.

This particular accident occurred

when a South Vietnamese aircraft dropped napalm

on an incorrect target.

What should have been a jungle was instead

a small village.

Napalm adheres to whatever it hits,

and then burns with great intensity.

When scientists developed napalm

at Harvard University during World War II,

I wonder if they ever expected

their chemical would be used on people.

When this woman watched her baby burn to death,

I'm sure she wasn't even aware that the chemical

napalm was responsible for her agony.

During the summer of 1957,

the United States military conducted 24 tests

at Yucca Flats, Nevada.

The basic objective was to determine the physical

and psychological impact of nuclear weapons

on troops in the field.

A few hundred troops were told to sit together.

Several miles away a 44-kiloton atomic bomb,

mounted on a steel tower, was detonated.

After the initial flash, the soldiers

were instructed to face the mushroom cloud.

They would later report a sensation of great heat,

much like standing next to a blast furnace.

Twenty-four years later, some of these

soldiers have been stricken with leukemia.

They believe their disease resulted from

excessive radiation exposure.

Many of these men are still waiting to find out

if they will be victims of a deadly disease

as a result of following orders, 24 years ago.

The art of survival plays another

important role in a soldier's training.

Killing game must be quick and effective,

and no part of the animal is wasted.

When man can make a profit through

the slaughter of a specific animal,

he will kill without hesitation.

The fur of an infant Persian lamb brings

a high price in the fashion market.

Before this baby reaches its third day of life,

it will be slaughtered;

its fine fur will be used to shield many

of us from extreme cold.

Some consumers are not concerned about

the origin of their purchase.

When they don the Persian lamb hat, most do not even

realize that they are wearing

the skin of an infant to keep themselves warm.

This mink has been raised for slaughter.

Its fur will bring a high price

in the fashion market place.

The fur coat has always been a symbol

of both opulence and high style.

As a result, a variety of animals have met

their death to fulfill our greedy demands.

Man's wardrobe comforts are not the only cause

for animal butchery.

This year in the United States alone,

over 60 million animals will be killed

under the guise of scientific research.

A great number of the general public have led

demonstrations protesting the inhumane scientific

research performed on animals.

Scientists look upon these protesters

as sentimental eccentrics,

and feel their experimentation

is for the benefit of all mankind.

Although rats and mice constitute

a large portion of animal extermination

in the laboratory,

the most horrifying experiments

are performed on our biological relative,

the primate.

Thousands and thousands of monkeys have been

maimed, mutilated and killed in experiments

designed to help prepare the United States

for World War III.

The most pathetic results occur when these

creatures are subjected to drug experimentation.

Many of these monkeys are kept high for months,

so their convulsive withdrawal symptoms

may be studied in detail.

PCP, commonly referred to as "angeldust,"

should actually be termed "the angel of death."

This victim, under the delusionary influence

of PCP, caused a car accident which resulted

in the death of two people.

The drugged driver didn't even know

he was responsible.

On January 10th, 1979, Lovell, California,

was the site of a nightmare.

Two men under the influence of PCP

would create a crime that the people of this town

would never forget.

Come on, tell me, what happened down there?

Just calm down, just calm down, relax.

Two men...

came in the drugstore.

And... and they...

they looked really weird, you know.

And... and... and the druggist, he...

he didn't... he went to the phone and...

and he called the police, and... and then...

Okay, calm down, tell me what happened.

And they, and they shot him.

And there was blood everywhere.

How many people were there, how many people?

Two.

Two people? With guns?

Yes.

What kind of guns?

Guns.

(voice in background) You fuckin' pigs.

Fuck you...

you fuckin' cops, you motherfuckers...

I'm bleeding all over the fuckin' place, man...

fuck you, man.

Lie face down with your hands

out in front of you.

Do it now.

We got a god damn bitch in there, man,

we 're gonna blow her head off.

Fuck you, man, fuck you, man.

Oh, fuck.

Motherfuckers.

When the assailants were attempting to flee,

one was wounded in the crossfire.

With his accomplice trapped on the sidewalk,

the other drug-crazed killer held police at bay

by threatening the life of a hostage

inside the store.

Come on, pigs, you wanna fuck around?

Drop your gun and then step out of the door

with your hands over your head.

Get down...

hold your fire, someone's coming out...

don't move, don't move...

get down... don't move.

Get your hands...

Fuckin' asshole...

Shut up.

Fucking pig.

Fuckin'...

Shut up...

When this young man awakens

from his angel dust dreams,

he'll not only feel the agony of his wounds,

but suddenly realize he's been responsible

for the deaths of two innocent people.

But what is even more horrifying to him,

is that he has secured a position

among the condemned of Death Row.

The wilderness of America has always seemed

boundless and inexhaustible.

Nature has always been the substance

of our strength and inspiration.

The silence of the wilderness has been

a place where we can cleanse our soul,

and reflect about our lives.

Over the past 250 years, we have subdued

a continent created by the ages.

We race from the age of industrialization

into an age of anxiety.

Our cities began to replace the wilderness,

and so began the birth of urban America.

With the development of the cities

came new job opportunities,

and then came thepeople by the millions.

In production and consumption, we achieved

a kind of greatness.

Becoming the most affluent country

in the world was no easy task.

Just as the American dream

seemed within reach,

we found the limits of our American earth.

Today, ever major city in America

is afflicted with the problems of litter

and pollution.

The air quality has become so severe

that the cleansing winds of North America

are now contaminated.

And what price will the next generation

have to pay?

Scientists predict that if something drastic

is not done about our environmental abuse,

within the next century the earth will become

a toxic waste land.

Eleven thousand miles of American rivers

and streams hav been damaged by acid drainage.

As a result, thousands of our fresh water lakes

are now dying centuries ahead of their time.

When the microorganic life of a lake gives way

to sludgeworms and the smell of toxic chemicals,

the area becomes unlivable.

Our oceans are in no better shape,

a million tons of oil are spilled

at sea each year.

More than 10 million tons are dumped in to bays

that run into the sea.

This abuse means death for the creatures

inhabiting this environment.

America comprises six percent of the world's

population, yet we consume 50 percent

of all its goods and services.

There is a whole industry in this country dedicated

to the removal of our garbage.

Over a half million tons of garbage is thrown away

each day, 365 days a year.

Our war against nature can only end

in total human devastation.

A cluster bomb is a ten-foot long canister

filled with hundreds of small shrapnel

laden bomblets.

Dropped from a plane, the cluster bomb unit splits

open in midair, spewing out bomblets

and saturating an area of several hundred

square yards with steel shards.

These Lebanese children were the helpless

victims of one such bomb.

Israeli bombers attacked this village

in retaliation for Palestinian rocket

attacks that killed three civilians in the Israeli

city of Nahariyya.

The smal village ofAzea in Lebanon

has always appeared peaceful.

At one time, the village had been a pretty little

collection of stonehouses.

After this attack, more than 50 of the 250

villagers were dead, many of them children.

The village was reduced to a pile of rubble,

which looked more like a rock quarry

than a place of human habitation.

The cries of grieving parents filled the morning

stillness of this southern Lebanese village.

There is never a reason to kill a child,

but morality has no place in war.

There is no right or wrong.

Any semblance of human compassion

and understanding is substituted

with the instinct to kill.

The enemy must be destroyed at all costs,

even if he is a child.

It will be a long time before the people of this

village ever forget this nightmare.

Raids like the one on Azea can only deepen

Lebanese hatred and earn new enemies for Israel.

The Bible predicts the end of the world will start

in the Middle East, when opposing powers

are unwilling to compromise and war becomes

the only means to an end.

The hope for peace becomes an impossible dream.

If this continues, the prophecy of the Bible

is certain to become a reality.

Herman Melville, the author of "Moby Dick",

once wrote, "The point is whether the whale

can long endure so wide a chase,

so remorseless a habit,

whether he must not at last be exterminated

from the waters, and the last whale,

like the last man, smoke the last pipe,

and then himself evaporate in the final puff."

Once the explosive-tipped harpoon

has killed the whale, an air hose is jabbed

through its blubber,

inflating the giant carcass.

Days later, this vessel will return to pickup

the floating beasts.

The world population of the blue whale

has dropped in the past 30 years from 100,000

to under a thousand.

There are also other species of whales

that face extinction.

Even with this threat, there is still a demand

for its meat.

But some countries throughout the world

are trying to protect this creature.

The whale pirate respects no international laws,

as long as he is paid for his bounty,

there is no safe hiding place

for this giant of the ocean.

Today, nearly every product

derived from the whale can be synthetically produced,

but some countries still view the whale as a cheap

and profitable commodity.

Stewart Udall, former secretary of the Interior,

stated, "This decade may god own in history

as marking the end of life for the largest

animal ever to inhabit this earth."

Because of its superior intelligence,

the dolphin has been trained to perform

various tricks in marine parks all over the world.

Dolphins possess their own unique language.

Dr.John Lily has studied these mammals

for the past two decades, and he firmly believes

that man and dolphin will one day communicate.

Once this language barrier has been overcome,

Lily is convinced that dolphins will teach

mankind about the unanswered mysteries

of the sea.

These particular men are not concerned

with the dolphin's intelligence,

they simply hunt these mammals forfood.

On November 6th through the 8th in 1978,

in Izu, Japan,

the slaughter of hundreds of dolphins took place.

After this nightmare, I wonder if the dolphin

will consider man his friend.

The menu of mankind is not limited

to just the lower beasts,

some men consume their own neighbors.

Deep within the jungles of New Guinea resides

a group of natives known as the Cannibal Kings.

Here the Cannibals are in a constant struggle

against thee lements, other hostile tribes,

and an assortment of rare tropical diseases.

Holding their war axes, the elders listen

to a recent dispute in the village.

When an argument began between a warrior

and his wife,

their dispute ended in violence.

After hitting her on the head with an axe,

the husband tells the elder,

his woman got off lightly, she is lucky to be alive.

The elder agrees that respect

must be maintained.

Violence for these people is a way o life.

This woman has an extra joint to serve

as a life long reminder of an arm fractured

in some long-forgotten family brawl.

But modern medicine sometimes enters

the lives of these people.

The sweltering tropical climate breeds a series

of skin diseases.

With the aid of sophisticated drugs,

total recovery becomes possible.

This youngster's skin shows light patches,

the first telltale signs of leprosy.

Yaws is a vicious skin disease which eventually

disfigures its victims.

With a single injection of penicillin,

this horrid disease can be brought under control.

Unfortunately, for this victim,

help came too late.

This woman wears the foot of her dead husband.

When he died, the villagers ate the man,

hoping that his traits would be passed on.

Since medical science is often unavailable

to these people, many of these children will never

reach adulthood.

Here in Cambodia, medical services

are available,

but even with the help of medical science,

the rearesome diseases

that still rage out of control.

Leprosy is termed

"the disease of the livingdead,"

its effects are irreversible

and devastating.

With the aid of modern medicine,

doctors can now prescribe drugs which can stop

this disease from spreading,

while alleviating its agonizing pain.

Medical science is making major advances

in certain areas of disease control.

With the aid of a microscope,

doctors are now able to diagnose cancer

in its early stages.

Since this disease has so many variations

and is capable of attacking

any area of the body,

doctors cannot always cure those who are afflicted

with this dreadful illness.

This particular victim died of intestinal cancer.

When these pathologists completet his autopsy,

various specimens will be sent to numerous

research laboratories.

Here scientists will continue to search

for answers to a disease which kills

thousands each year.

Some forms of cancer can be surgically removed

with the use of a highly sophisticated operation

called microsurgery.

Using miniaturized surgical instruments

incorporated with a system of fiberoptics,

the surgeon can view and remove tumors

growing deep within the throat of the patient.

With the cancer removed, this patient has been

granted a new lease on life.

Walter Johnson is a collector of Western

memorabilia, and death has a special place

in his collection.

Well, really, almost all m life

I've been interested in the Gold West,

and mainly California history and Civil War,

in that era.

And I've collected guns for several years,

and Indian artifacts and Western artifacts.

But I believe my prize is my buddy here,

old Joachim Murietta.

He was a California bandit,

which I believe is more legend and fiction

than anything else, but California,

they wanted a bandit like the East had Jesse James

and soon, they wanted sort of a Robin Hood.

So they picked Joachim Murietta.

He was pretty good at plundering gold

such as this here,

which was pretty plentiful in California around 1850.

But the way the story goes, he got to be quite

a nuisance and the Governor of California

in 1853 wanted to get rid of him.

So he offered a reward, $5,000,

for the man dead or alive.

So he authorized, Captain Love, I believe,

yeah, Captain Love of the California Rangers

and his men to go out and get Joachim.

Which they did and they caught up with him

in Cantua Creek, California,

July7th, 1853.

And a man named William Henderson...

and they shot him to death,

the whole bunch of Rangers.

William Henderson was credited with cutting

off his head and the hand of Three Finger Jack

and they brought it back for the reward money,

which they got.

Then the head was displayed around

California for many years in a jar,

preserved in whiskey.

It finally wound up in a museum,

Professor Jordan's Museum in San Francisco,

where it stayed until 1906, where supposedly it

was destroyed in the earthquake.

But then, the way the new story goes,

in 1957 this head was found in San Francisco

in a man's attic,

and it was pretty well checked over

and found out to be pretty authentic.

And it wound up in the Amity Museum

for several years where it was on display.

And then they went bankrupt,

and when they did,

a man from northern California, AlKeck,

bought the head and he had it in his museum

for quite a while.

And I seen it there and I really was interested

in that head and I really liked it,

so he sold it to me roughly for $2000.

New York City is the home of a very unique museum.

Located in the County Coroner's building,

the Museum of Death preserves both the weapons

and the actual remains of victims

who lost their lives by unnatural means.

The atrocities of mankind are on display

for use by pathologists and criminologists.

This museum is dedicated to understanding

the various causes of murder in society.

By displaying the weapons and their

devastating effects,

criminologists are able to gain

a better understanding of the behavioral patterns

of various killers.

It is a sad testimony to our society that innocent

people must die by violent means.

What is even sadder are the criminals who commit

these crimes.

They are usually the outcasts of our society,

the losers nobody cares about.

When man goes to war, he is given a license

to kill.

The war in Indochina produced some of the most

brutal atrocities in the history of mankind.

A soldier who is in battle, faces

the possibility of death at any moment,

violence becomes his only means to an end.

These are just some of the horrors

that developed out of the Indochina War.

The guillotine was first used by the French

in the seventeenth century.

This effective killing device found its rebirth

in the Indochina War.

Politicians and dissidents who disagreed

with their government were often decapitated

in public.

Massive executions were also quite effective.

These mutilated dead bodies of communist

soldiers were displayed to Cambodian citizens

to show the strength of their army

and their dislike for the Vietcong.

But there is one execution

that was captured live by a French cameraman.

It happened in Liberia.

When a group of military officers raided

the executive mansion of President William Tolbert,

Liberia experienced the first coup detat

of its 133-year-old history.

As news spread of the dow nfall of the Tolbert

government, the general populace grew anxious.

Tolbert's government had made

their lives miserable.

He had increased the price of food

and used his private army and police to terrorize

and kill those who disagreed

with his policies.

With Tolbert dead, the rest of his cabinet

would now stand trial.

In all cases their charges would be the same;

high treason, misuse of public office,

rampant corruption and gross violation of human

and constitutional rights.

...by the decree,

signed and/or approved,

it is hereby united by the People's Redemption

Council of the Republic of Liberia,

one, high treason.

It has constituted the crime of high treason,

a first degree felony, if, A), by rampant corruption,

a public official selfishly

accumulates wealth to himself,

and thereby denies ornegates afair

distribution of the national wealth

to his fellow citizens,

and thereby necessitating a mandatory coup detat

as the only means of liberating the people.

Signed, Master Sergeant Samuel K. Doe,

Chairman of the People's Redemption Council

here in the state of the Republic of Liberia.

Mr.Chairman, I am not guilty

of any act of treason.

I have outlined in the act that you have

just heard, read as a proposing project,

programs and plans for the government

which were mainly intended to serve people.

What we want to know here is that you have

worked in the government for 18 years,

and on top of that, you are a Liberian citizen.

We want to know whether in your own opinion,

the democratic processes that have been going on

through the years in the Liberian government,

in the instrumentality of the true party,

do you think there has been political lives

by just a few people which has excluded

the masses of the Liberian people from taking part?

That's the question.

It has not taken into account the feelings

of the masses of the people because

the decisions were made by only a few people.

The military tribunal tried 13 government

officials of the Tolbert regime.

All of them were found guilty and condemned

to death by a firing squad.

A public execution was to be staged

on the beach front of Monrovia,

Liberia's capital city.

The new leader of this country,

Master Sergeant Samuel Kanyon Doe,

declared these executions would mark the end

of this country's oppression.

The Liberian people were eager for the executions

to begin.

The sooner Tolbert's men were shot,

the sooner their country could enter

an era of civilian rule.

For nearly an hour the condemned men sat

in a bus and watched crews erect their execution

posts on the quiet beach front.

It would now be a matter of minutes before

they would die.