william johnston and karen hairston are from the united states. their father was a crew member of a b-29 bomber during world war ii. his plane was shot down by the japanese army and he spent six months in japan as a prisoner of war. after his liberation, melvin tried to build a normal life. he didn't speak much about his experience as a p.o.w. he died in 1984 at the age of 65. >> i think as a second generation, i don't feel the hardships, but i do see that it's affected my father. so that is something that i think we are missing. >> his siblings contacted a japanese citizen's group that researchers prisoners of war. karen and william visited central tokyo where their father's plane crashed. >> so this is the area the front of the plane came down. >> that's right. >> okay. >> reporter: the siblings were most affected by their visit to the prison camp where their father was one of about 600 captives. melvin kept a secret journal, and inside he counted the days until the freedom he craved. >> he also was very hungry in the camp, so he would draw pict