he was known as the voice of the voiceless and he was gunned down while delivering mass. then dozens were killed at his funeral in san salvador. san francisco's arch bishop witnessed the chaos in the cathedral. >> then the crowd just began to push and there was nothing you could do. >> reporter: during the long civil war that followed the youngest victims of the battle struggle to survive. and one oakland firefighter was moved to help.

>> would you ask can i make a difference, man i hope so. >> it's all straight ahead on a second look. >> hello everyone and welcome back to a second look. he was once a voice for those struggling for justice in el salvador. this year the catholic church is close to naming him a saint. the death of oscar romero stunned the world 27 years ago this week. pope francis declared romero a martyr. before he was killed, arch bishop romero wrote to pope john paul ii about the brutality in el salvador. no soldier is obliged to follow orders.

obey your conscious. >> when a martyr hunter -- in all of this archbishop oscar romero has been the voice. he received a number of death threats but refused a bodyguard. saying a shepherd does not seek shelter for himself but for his flock. it happened yesterday. the priest was saying mass for a group of nuns. reportedly his last word was justice. thousands of mourners

gathered for arch bishop romero's funeral. a bomb exploded as he was speaking at the pulpit then the shooting began. here's our report from that day, march 30th. >> at least hundreds of people have been killed and hundreds injured. the riot started this morning for assassinated arch bishop oscar romero. 80,000 gathered to speak out strongly against violence but suddenly gunfire rang out. everyone immediately tried racing for cover. >> one eyewitness said the mob didn't know which way to run, they were just running all over each other. at least two people died from gunshot wounds but the rest of the victims were trampled to death in the wild stampede.

witnesses describe the situation as total chaos. tonight the army has been sent out to restore order but the funeral mass which was so abruptly halted was never completed and arch bishop romero was given a very hasty burial. and also in the city was arch bishop from san francisco john quinn. >> they were packed up against each other. it was hot and humid. shots rang out. it was a sharp shooter on the roof of one of the buildings. then there was an explosion immediately following this shot an explosion at the far end of the square at the right of the square. and it seemed to come from one of the government buildings. i was up at the top where the

altar when people started to push and there was just nothing you could do. >> reporter: a district judge ruled that alvaro rafael salvia organized and paid for the assassination on the order of the leaders of a salvadorian squad. savia then escaped. the assassination of arch bishop romero propelled el salvador into a full fledged war. the rebels demanded that voters boycott the polls.

the threat brought hundreds to el salvador. among them was carlos riv era who returned with this report. >> they did stage attacks on different polling stations and things like that. but not as big as everybody had expected. >> reporter: now the purpose obviously of that kind of violence was to disrupt the elections i guess. and did it in fact, disrupt the elections? >> no people were determined to vote. they were standing in lines for blocks and hours. in some cases people dodged bullets to get to the polling station. i went around town and talked to people who were dodging the bullets who were trying to get -- >> there were people crawling under barricades to get to the polls. >> that's nothing unusual whatsoever. it happens throughout el

salvador. people were really determined to cast their ballots. i asked them why. all of them gave us the same answer. one it's our civic duty. the other is because we want the violence to end. we want the entire conflict to end we're tired of it. people did not heed the threats and they came out in mass.

the civil war in el salvador continued for a decade. a report from inside a rebel stronghold aired on ktvu in april of 1982. we beagain our journey -- we begin our journey with the chanetenan. we heard of the death of two dutch reporters. an insignificant slip up could be deadly. buried in the high forested

mountains served several purposes. among many things it's the place where patrols and units slip away to battle. running the operation is comandante tono. nobody using their real name. we asked him what was his commitment. he told us dragging young men and raping the young girls. he says the abuses turned the men to guerilla. 18-year-old lydia handles the receiver and transmitter station that forms one link in a network of other such stations set up throughout the guerilla held area. these radios report government troop movement, coded orders between rebel units and news from the outside. until six months ago the rebels

didn't even have this. >> [speaking spanish] >> reporter: the biggest thorn in the government's side is dario venceremos. transmitting news through all of central america. the government has said that radio venceremos is in the north but we found it very deep in the woods. >> [speaking spanish ]

>> reporter: while we were in morazan, they captured the prisoners of war we interviewed. >> [speaking spanish] >> como entrastes al ejercito. >> yo iva a estudiar. y llego unautobus y me

dijieron que me ivan a llevar. emotionals ran high for john paul in el salvador as he celebrated a two hour mass for half a thousand people the pope ignored his report and shouted enough of violence several types. there was one surprise announcement made by the government at the beginning of the pope's visit, el salvador's president greeted the pope by saying that free elections will be held earlier than scheduled probably before the end of the year. hopefully by christmas. during his brief visit to el salvador. the pope made a stop at the tomb of the pope of the man who

he called a servant of god. arch bishop romero. he described him as a pastor who tried to stop violence. and urged that his sacrifice as a pastor given over to his flock should be remembered. by the time of the pope's visit to el el salvador. lawmakers were speaking about the support for the government of san salvador. among them were church leaders. >> reporter: the reagan administration is defending its policy against criticism in congress and from catholic church officials. the administration refuses to press for peace talks between the government and communist backed rebels. at the same time it is warning that without military aged soon, the el salvador government will fall into hands. that prompted top administration officials to criticize catholic leaders for

advocating policies that will lead to a communist take over in the region. at a house hearing in el salvador, james hickey took strong stronghold to that. >> the united states should talk more about ending the violence and less about prosecuting war. >> reporter: members of the committee were also upset. >> it's the role of the church is one that must be heard. and that implicit or explicit criticism of the church is something that the government of the united states should be very embarrassed about. >> reporter: solomon said the arch bishop was being too one sided and did not take seriously the threats of the communists in central america. >> the last thing in the world we want to do is to see central

american fall under communist domination. because if el salvador falls, guatemal will be next, columbia next, mexico next and then what. >> reporter: the u.s. support of a right wing government triggered protest on the streets of san francisco. >> we want peace for central america. >> reporter: on the fourth anniversary of the assassination of arch bishop romero. the demonstrators named the man who they thought was responsible for killing him. >> who we have running for president now in el salvador is roberto davison who has been mentioned by robert white former u.s. ambassador to el sal -- salvador as one of the leaders and probably responsible for the death of romero. >> and a few years later, a

u.s. judge agreed. no court in el salvador ever tried davison for the assassination. he died in 2002. a former governor travels to el salvador to help children and how that mission led him to help many children around the world.

according to the u.n. over 12 years of war, 75,000 75,000 salvadorians were killed by bombings. one oakland firefighter decided he wanted to help. and betty anne brunner brought us his story. >> reporter: the voices belong to el salvador children, in orphanages, streets and schools. ray gatolian knows something

about war himself. he was a green baret in war. >> at first i didn't want to come out and make a strong political statement and you know that i more or less walkedded the fence so i can go back and forth to el salvador. bring children back from el salvador. work with the government so friend would give me clothe, washing machines, printing presses. so i was able to go in and out. but increasingly people down there would tell me and i would see what was going on. and my wife and i decided that we have to make a public statement. >> reporter: the gachilioans took out a loan on their house to make this statement.

ray says the images and voices touched him to be heard. >> what they would say to me was so poignant that i said you know, people have to hear what they're saying. >> reporter: when we grow up, we need knowledge. we will have a future of the world. but we will need the strength of knowledge for our work. >> gachilion is in washington, d.c. with 25 scheduled showings of his video to senators, congressmen and foundations anybody who might have some influence on u.s. policies in el salvador which he wants changed. >> we have $1.4 million of your tax dollars and my tax dollars going to el salvador every day. it's been 4-1/2 billion dollars to go into el sal -- salvador for the first time in history the amount of money that we gave to that country exceeded

the national budget of that country. el salvador is third in getting foreign aid behind israel and egypt. little teeny el salvador. >> reporter: last year the whole world watched another video tape, he was part of the team that rescued bulk helns after the october 26th earthquake. >> what struck me about all of this is when i look at this footage and viewed this footage is look at the intensity and the passion to save lives. not to say that buck horn's life was not worth saving but all the intentionality and the focus of the nation on buck helen. i can give you a child every second in every moment that i've shot that needs just as much help and just as much attention. i can't continue to go down there and bring a few clothes and a few supplies, knowing the

devastation, the reprehencable conduct of a so called democratic government that tortures its own people. kills its own people. >> he doesn't know where his video documentary will take him. he says he only knows he had to do it. >> when we come back on a second look, he documented the lives of children in desperate circumstances around the world. how the work of ray gachilion began in el salvador and became his life's work after he retired as an oakland firefighter.

♪ ♪ ♪ the volkswagen jetta is really fun-to-drive. go for it. okay. wow... woohoo! i'm dreaming... pinch me. no, not while you're driving.

and, right now, you can get a one-thousand-dollar volkswagen credit bonus on jetta models. seriously, pinch me. it's not a dream. ow! it's the volkswagen stop dreaming, start driving event. stop dreaming, and test-drive one today. hurry in and you can get 0% apr plus a $1000 volkswagen credit bonus on 2015 jetta and passat models. oakland firefighter ray gachilion became a tireless campaigner against some of the world's most vulnerable and victimized individuals. 10 years after he asked for help, his mission had brought him to help children all over the world. bob mackenzie filed this report in 2001. >> firefighters do a lot of good but it wasn't enough for gachelion he wants to do more.

he travels the world documenting the life of street children. in new dehli india, where children don't get schooling because they're on the street working. in nepal where children work around the clock in sweat shots if they escape being sold as sex slaves he found people trying to save them. in each country he finds people and organizations doing what they can to save some of the children. >> ♪ ♪ >> a nonprofit group called udain maintains small homes throughout india where homeless girls can find a safe haven. >> they're looking after

orphaned children. in india this problem is acute. they are made to, they are forced to fulfill sexual needs. the situation is really grim. >> reporter: the kids are taken to hotels supplying quick sex. some children live in their families in tiny shacks leaning against the wall. but cachilion found a rescue operation that gives children a place to live and sends them to school. he's helping kids escape the streets. telling the story of kids and the self-less people that work to save them has become gachiloin's mission. >> you know mother teresa said it doesn't matter what you do but how much love you do it with. and the reality bob, these people, these workers when you see the footage what are they doing. they're showing these 150

million kids, not all of them. but what love is all about. can you imagine going throughout life with no love. no one loving you. so when you ask me if i make a difference, boy i hope so. >> he was killed at age of 57. he was killed when a truck he was driving in went into a steep ravine in chile. he is remembered as a humanitarian who spent his life helping others. that's it for this week's second look. i'm frank some -- somerville. we'll see you again next week.

jay: one of my best efforts. have at it. mm, i can't eat that. why not? the pickle's touching it. there. the juice got on the bread and, ew, what's that stuff? spices. they look like sea monkeys. have you ever really examined a jar of pickles, jay? it's like a swamp in there. i'll pass. what happened? i made him a beautiful sandwich, and he won't eat it. yeah, 'cause it had pickles on it. joe is taking a nap. i'm gonna go to the dry cleaners. well, if you're passing a sushi restaurant -- she's not. i've never heard of anyone not liking pickles.

aw, big day for you, then. i'm just gonna make myself a grilled cheese. i think i saw some gruyere in there. do we have any fig? unh-unh. sit down. this whole persnickety thing is not gonna fly in the world. never hand people another reason to make fun of you. you mean like all the cool kids with their leather jackets and their pickles? well, you're gonna sit there until you at least try a pickle. you're drunk with power. you got that right. ♪