I'm Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Welcome to "Finding Your Roots."

In this episode, we'll meet Senator John McCain and actors Julianne Moore and Patricia Arquette, 3 people who share a common bond.

They each have ancestors who made immense sacrifices during war.

You feel pride in those who went before you, and they're all people who basically changed the world... Mm-hmm.

so I chose to follow in their footsteps.

I never knew this person and this direct connection.

Isn't that amazing?

It's amazing, what they contributed to building America, what that meant.

You have this connection to somebody 300 years ago... Mm-hmm.

who was a patriot, really believed in the United States.

They're special people.

I wonder if anyone in my family knows this.

They'll be thrilled.

Gates, voice-over: To uncover the stories of these ancestors, we've used every tool available.

Genealogists stitched together the past with the paper trail left behind while geneticists utilized the latest advances in DNA analysis to reveal secrets hundreds of years old, and we've compiled them into a book of life... Oh, my God, I'm glad to hear that.

Ha ha ha!

Gates, voice-over: a record of our discoveries.

I thought we had some rabble-rousers.

We still carry that in our family.

It's nuts, honestly.

I didn't think we'd be able to go this far back because you just always assume that you don't know this stuff because it's unknowable.

Gates: John McCain, Patricia Arquette, and Julianne Moore all descend from men who risked their lives on the battlefield.

In this episode, we'll learn how their ancestors' service left an indelible mark on their families and on their countries.

Republican senator and Vietnam War veteran John McCain is that rare breed of politician who isn't afraid to say what he thinks, even when it pits him against his own party.

He has shown himself repeatedly to be his own man, regardless of the consequences, so I was surprised when he began our interview by telling me that he believes his life was, in a sense, preordained.

McCain: My father and my grandfather were Naval Academy graduates.

There have been 4 generations of West Pointers and Naval Academy at least back into the 1800s.

When World War II broke out-- I still remember to this day-- we were out in front of our house there in New London, Connecticut.

Guy drove up.

He said, "The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor."

My father went, threw a bag together, and left, and I didn't see him again for a long, long time.

My father was a man of strict belief in duty, honor, country.

He loved the Navy.

He lived the Navy.

His whole life was the Navy.

Gates: As a young man, John wasn't always happy that his birthright was a career in the military... McCain: I was fairly wild when I was at the Naval Academy.

John Wayne McCain?

That's what they called me.

You broke every rule that you could break.

I was just an immature, young man who was out to enjoy life, and I think part of it was sort of a kind of a rebellion against the--the legacy ever since I was this high, and my parents, "Oh, what class is he gonna be in at the Naval Academy?"

Gates: yet when McCain was sent to fight in Vietnam, he endured an experience that left no doubt that he'd inherited the strength and spirit of his military ancestors.

On October 26, 1967, during a bombing mission over North Vietnam, McCain's plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile.

McCain: When I ejected, I broke both my arms and my knee.

I landed in a lake in the City of Hanoi.

In this picture of Vietnamese who swam out, they pulled me up on the shore of the lake.

I ended up at the famous prison that was known of as the Hanoi Hilton.

It was pretty brutal.

Gates: After 8 months of brutal torture, interrogation, and isolation, McCain was singled out for an early release because his father was a high-ranking Naval officer.

He refused out of solidarity with his fellow POWs, and so he spent nearly 5 more years in the nightmare of captivity.

How did you endure it?

What kept you going?

Faith in God, faith in your country, faith in your fellow prisoners.

They kept us in solitary conditions for a long time, but we would tap on the walls to each other using a simple code, and we were able to coordinate.

We were able to resist.

Gates: It's something of a miracle that John McCain survived at all.

When we was released in March of 1973, he had multiple severe injuries, injuries that limit his physical mobility to this day, but his spirit was unbowed, and his devotion to his fellow pilots was unbroken.

That same strength of character has informed his political career ever since.

Where did you get that commitment?

Mm, well, I think by, look, my life experiences.

I've trusted my instincts and my knowledge to go ahead and do what's right, even if sometimes it's against the majority.

Gates: Julianne Moore is one of America's most talented actors.

She's also one of our most courageous.

She's never shied away from challenging roles, a fearlessness that has earned her critical acclaim and multiple awards, including an Oscar for Best Actress in 2015.

I've long wanted to trace her roots, hoping to discover where the strength to make those gutsy choices comes from.

I wasn't disappointed.

Only one copy in the world... Oh, my gosh.

this is the book of life for Julie Anne Smith.

That's my real name.

That's your real name.

Yeah.

You changed your name from Julie Anne Smith to Julianne Moore.

Right.

Why?

You can't have the name-- you're not allowed to have the name of some-- as another actor.

There's already a Julie Anne Smith in the union, and I thought, well, my mother's first name was Anne.

My father's middle name was Moore.

I could use both of their names professionally and not hurt anybody's feelings.

I was very concerned about that.

What drew you to acting?

I was a big reader.

I think my mother used to bring us to the library every week, and I wasn't athletic, you know.

I never made cheerleader or even the drill team.

Like, they took 50 girls, and I still didn't get on, and so I joined the Drama Club, and I loved it, so I thought, well, if I could make a living, you know, just doing that, being like--feeling like you're inside a book all of the time, then why not try?

My parents, while aghast initially, were incredibly supportive.

Gates: Like Senator McCain, Julianne hails from a military family.

She was born at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, where her father Peter Moore Smith was serving in the Army.

Growing up, she changed schools 9 times as her father was transferred to military bases all over the world.

That unstable lifestyle would have overwhelmed many.

Julianne, however, drew strength from it and believes it fueled her acting talent.

Moore: They do say that when you ask an actor about their family history, you'll usually find a kind of peripatetic upbringing.

I think that you become, um, really observant, so you learn that behavior is mutable, that you can change yourself to fit in.

Gates: Nonetheless, being a soldier's daughter wasn't easy.

When Julianne was just 5, her father left for Vietnam.

That's your father in 1965 while he was serving as a helicopter pilot.

He looks very handsome in this picture.

You father was stationed just north of Saigon, and he flew helicopter missions in which he transported troops.

It was very dangerous assignment.

Of the 40,000 helicopter pilots who served in Vietnam, more than 2,000 died or went missing in action.

Yeah.

It was very hard on my mother, very, very hard on my mother because she was left with 3 little kids.

My brother was an infant, and she was only 25-- you know what I mean?-- so that was-- that was terrible.

Gates: During his tour of duty, Peter flew over 550 combat missions and received numerous medals, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart.

He went on to have a successful career as a lawyer and eventually returned to the Army, where he became a military judge.

He was a soldier to the core, and his outlook shaped Julianne.

Why did your father decide to enlist in the first place?

Part of it was the adventure.

I think he really did want to see the world.

It was a way to kind of change his life, and as a result, I saw a lot.

So you were affected by your strong military background.

The military gave me kind of a broader worldview.

Oh, I'm sure.

Yeah.

In terms of, you know, the structure of the military, you know, I mean, I don't-- I don't know.

Are you disciplinarian?

No.

I don't.

I don't, but I do like-- I like order... Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

I do, too.

and I know how to make a bed, you know?

Ha ha ha!

Ha ha!

Gates, voice-over: My third guest, Patricia Arquette, had a very different upbringing.

Her connection to the military had been buried deep in her family tree.

Arquette: Here's there's something really cool, that he studied with Lee Strasberg for 4 years.

Mm, that's right.

Gates: Her parents were performers, not soldiers, and she has followed in their footsteps.

She is renowned for her acting, both on television and in the movies.

In 2015, she won an Academy Award for her performance in the groundbreaking film "Boyhood."

What was that like to win?

The minute they said my name, I felt like someone had injected me with, like, an elephant tranquilizer or something.

Time slowed.

Everything got really weird.

I went backstage and almost fainted.

I had to sit down.

Ha ha ha!

They were fanning me and giving me a piece of chocolate.

I was like, "I think I'm gonna faint."

Gates: Though the award may have taken Patricia by surprise, from a genealogical perspective, she was well prepared to win.

You might say that her family has show business in its DNA.

All 4 of her siblings have acting careers.

Her mother Brenda Nowak was a dancer and a poet, and her father Lewis Arquette was an actor with more than 100 roles to his credit.

Did your father encourage you to become an actor?

No.

He didn't because he knew what a unsteady gig it was.

My mom really wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer.

So why didn't you become a doctor?

I was mo--more afraid of becoming an actor, and more than anything, I wanted to be brave... Mm-hmm.

so I thought it's OK if I fail at being an actor, but I want to try, and I--I really gave myself a full year to fail every day... Mm-hmm.

because my real job was to be brave.

Gates: Patricia told me that she was shaped by an unconventional childhood.

When she was just two years old, her family moved to what she describes as a hippie commune.

What was that like?

Arquette: People think, "Oh, it's such "a weird concept, the idea of living in a commune," but it was pretty interesting as a kid to grow up because I was really in nature, but it was also very difficult because we were very poor and the longer we lived there, the poorer we got, so I got a real sense of poverty in America.

I knew what it was like to wait for government food.

Hmm.

I think that gave me a really strong sense of empathy and understanding of a little bit about the human condition.

Gates: John, Julianne, and Patricia each see themselves as the by-products of their parents' choices.

Each learned values and skills in their childhood homes that have impacted their lives and their careers.

Now I wanted to see what we could find digging deeper into their roots to see how they've been shaped by ancestors they never even knew they had.

I started with Julianne Moore.

I was surprised to learn that Julianne is a first-generation American.

Her mother Anne Love was born in Scotland.

She emigrated to America in 1951 when she was 10 years old.

She and her parents settled in New Jersey, and Anne grew up to live the middle-class American dream.

She graduated from college, had a successful career as a social worker, and raised a family despite the challenges of being married to a soldier.

Her experiences even inspired Julianne to write a children's book.

In 2013, you wrote a book called "My Mom Is A Foreigner, But Not To Me."

Mm-hmm.

What were you trying to say with this book?

It's about being first-generation.

My friends would say, you know, "Why does you mother talk so funny?"

so the book is about how the person who is foreign to everyone else is the most familiar person in the world to you.

She's your mother.

I was astonished.

I only just realized that you became a British citizen 4 years ago in the year 2011.

Yeah.

Why did you do that?

For my mother.

I mean-- Oh, I knew I'd cry.

Mm-hmm.

I lost my mother suddenly 6 years ago, so it was for her.

Oh, I'm so sorry.

Yeah.

I remember my mom died in 1987, and, you know, you never stop mourning.

Uh-uh.

Mm.

She was a great mother.

Yeah.

Gates: Knowing how close Julianne was to her mother, I was eager to share our discoveries about her mother's ancestors.

Those are your grandparents, your mother's parents, Henry McNeil Love Mm-hmm.

and Flora McMillan McLean Right.

on their wedding day, and you knew them both.

What do you remember most about them?

They had a ranch house in-- in Burlington, New Jersey, and it, um-- they had all this kind of spongy grass, and they also had a trellis and a little bird bath and these things on their lawn, and it would always seem really weird to me until I went to Scotland and I realized that they were trying to recreate Scotland in their front yard in New Jersey, um, but they were great and very, very Scottish.

Gates: I was struck by the fact that Julianne's grandparents' lives had been touched by war just as her father's was.

Henry and Flora were living in the small shipyard town of Greenock, Scotland, when World War II came literally to their door.

On the evening of May 6, 1941, Nazi planes appeared in the night sky launching a bombing attack.

For two days, Hitler's war machine wreaked havoc.

More than 200 people were killed, hundreds injured, and whole sections of the town leveled.

Would you please read the transcribed section?

"Nights Of Terror.

"Three Burghs Hit Hard in Merciless Raids.

"Few towns in Britain have yet been "so severely blitzed as was Greenock "on the terrifying nights last month "when high explosive and incendiary bombs rained on the town."

I had no idea.

Gates: The attack on Greenock was part of the Nazis' 8-month-long bombing campaign known as the Blitz.

It's goal was to force Great Britain to surrender by terrorizing civilians and destroying its infrastructure.

Do you have any idea what the Nazis would have targeted the small, Scottish city of Greenock?

Shipbuilding.

It was where they built all the ships for the war.

Absolutely.

Greenock's major industry was shipbuilding, and the photos on the left show the toll that this bombing took on Greenock, and your mother, who was 9 months old, and your grandparents lived through this.

Right.

Wow, wow.

Gates: The Blitz had a profound impact on Julianne's grandfather Henry.

He joined the Home Guard, a force of civilian volunteers that assisted in patrolling and protecting the British home front.

We found a certificate that honored his service.

Moore: Wow, "Letter of the Home Guard 1944.

"In the years when our country was "in mortal danger, Henry McNeil Love "gave generously of his time and powers "to make himself ready for defense "by force of arms and with his life if need be."

Signed... Signed King George.

King George.

My goodness.

I had no idea.

What's it like to see that?

Amazing.

Ha ha ha!

It actually makes me feel much more connected to my Scottish side of the family.

Gates: My next guest, Senator John McCain, was well aware of World War II's impact on his family.

Both Senator McCain's father and grandfather fought in the Pacific theater during the war, and his grandfather, an admiral, was even present at the surrender of the Japanese which marked the official end of World War II.

This photo of the two, taken just after the surrender, is a powerful reminder of the McCain family's historic place in naval wartime history.

McCain: That's really a wonderful photo.

My father idolized his father, and this is the last time that they, uh, saw each other.

My grandfather flew home the next day.

A bunch of people came over, and he had a heart attack and died that day.

I think the war just wore him out, literally wore him out.

When his aviators didn't come back from the battles, it would grieve him enormously.

Gates: Senator McCain has long been conscious of his family's military history.

It was practically preached to him every day as a child, but we managed to uncover a story he had never heard.

It's the story of his great-great-grandfather William McCain, a man whose experiences in war draw uncanny parallels to Senator McCain's.

William Alexander McCain was born in 1817 into a family of Southern farmers.

He was one of many slave owners we found in John's family tree.

By the eve of the Civil War, he owned over 50 slaves in Mississippi.

McCain: All I know, really, is that they moved from North Carolina to Mississippi, where they owned land and raised cotton Mm-hmm.

and had slaves.

Now, you know that your ancestor fought for the Confederacy.

Yes.

Do you know what he did in the war?

No.

Gates, voice-over: We first came across McCain's great-great-grandfather on a muster roll from 1864, where he's listed as a private in the Mississippi Cavalry.

We then discovered that his cavalry unit had been tapped for a mission by none other than General Nathan Bedford Forrest, a brilliant but brutal commander often remembered for what he did after the war as the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

Under Forrest's command, William Alexander McCain began to have second thoughts about his future in the Confederate Army.

Now, Senator, your great-great-grandfather William didn't stick around for very long.

Could you please turn the page?

Oh, my God.

This is another one of your ancestor's muster rolls.

Would you please tell me what it says next?

"Deserted on February 10, 1864-- William McCane."

I'll be darned.

Ha ha ha!

I'll be darned.

I'm sure that-- I'm sure that William had good reason, but that's--that-- that is very interesting.

At the time, Forrest had just fired a number of low-ranking officers in order to streamline the chain of command, and men like your great-great-grandfather were furious because they were loyal to the officers who had been fired... Hmm.

so maybe it wasn't an act of cowardice.

Maybe it was an act of loyalty.

That's a very extreme, uh, manifestation of that.

I haven't always been satisfied, but, um, not like that, uh, but it's--it's-- this is fascinating.

Mm.

Gates: We wondered what became of William McCain after breaking from his commander.

The answer that we found revealed surprising similarities to Senator McCain's own life.

McCain: Wow.

"Register of Prisoners of War "belonging to the Rebel Army in custody of Provost Marshal, Memphis, Tennessee," so I would assume that he was, uh, captured.

That's right.

Your great-great-grandfather two months after he deserted was captured.

By the Union Army?

Is that-- That's right.

That document is dated April 9, 1864.

You aren't the only member of your family, Senator McCain, to be held as a prisoner of war.

To be prisoner of war.

It's amazing.

It's amazing.

Gates: After his capture, William McCain was sent to the Irving Block prison camp in Memphis, Tennessee.

We found a report on this camp written by a Union officer describing its horrific conditions in shocking detail.

McCain: "In a dark, wet cellar, "I found 28 prisoners chained to a wet floor, "where they had been constantly confined, "many of them for several months, "and are not for one moment released, even to relieve the calls of nature."

I can't imagine.

Mm.

Yeah.

That's cruel and inhumane treatment.

Well, conditions in this prison, Senator, were so bad that Abraham Lincoln actually ordered it to be closed.

This is quite a surprise.

How does it make you feel to know that when you were a prisoner of war, you were re-enacting an experience that's in your family tree?

That--that's right.

That gives me, certainly, a greater appreciation for him because of what he went through.

Mm.

Unfortunately, Senator, for William, things were about to get worse.

Really?

Would you please turn the page?

This is another one of your great-great-grandfather's military records.

It says, "Disposition of prisoner-- Died in hospital April 26, 1864."

He succumbed.

I hope that it was brief.

I hope his suffering was short.

He gave his life for the cause that he believed in, and so I have a reason, I think, to be proud of him.

Gates: Unlike my other guests, Patricia Arquette grew up in a show business family.

He father Lewis was an actor best known for his role as J.D.

Pickett on the popular 1970s TV series "The Waltons."

Did you feel like a Hollywood kid?

No.

I really didn't, uh, because my father was really a working actor and he would do industrial films, voice-overs, commercials, guest spots.

At a certain point, we weren't even asking him.

He'd say, "I'm going to work."

"OK, Dad.

See you later."

Yeah.

Oh, right.

Yeah.

We didn't even know what show he was on, and he didn't have some weird airs about being in this business.

We were always raised it doesn't matter how successful you are.

You're no more important than the janitor.

You're no-- Mm-hmm.

You know, we're not saving lives here.

Gates: Like Patricia, her father followed in the performing footsteps of his father-- comedian Cliff Arquette.

Cliff began his career in radio, then became a TV staple, appearing frequently on the Jack Paar show and "Hollywood Squares."

His folksy character Charley Weaver became so popular that Cliff Arquette rarely appeared in public out of character.

You recognize that character?

Yes.

That's my grandpa.

The legend, my dad said, was that he'd come up, my grandfather, with this character Charley Weaver and he'd retired and then on Jack Paar's show, he said, "You know who I really miss?

"This comedian who used to crack me up-- Cliff Arquette, Charley Weaver," and so then he came out of retirement and had a whole new career because of Jack Paar.

Gates: Patricia's grandfather Cliff died when she was just 6 years old.

To help her get to know the man behind the character, we showed her an article published in 1960 from the "Gettysburg Times."

It revealed the serious side of funnyman Charley Weaver.

Arquette: "The Civil War Centennial Commission "takes special pleasure in presenting "this certificate to Clifford Charles Arquette "in recognition of his contributions "to the advancement of the study "of Civil War history and for his aid "in developing our nationwide centennial program."

This is really, really cool.

Gates: In the early 1960s as historic sites were being threatened by real estate development, Patricia's grandfather used his celebrity status to raise money to preserve the Gettysburg battlefield.

Arquette: On the Jack Paar show, he would tell people, "Hey, all, they're making these things "called supermarkets and mini malls, "and they're covering all these battlefields in America.

Send in a dollar.

We're gonna buy up these battlefields."

Gates: Patricia's grandfather also founded a museum at Gettysburg made up in part of his own collection of hand-carved Civil War figurines.

Later known as the Soldier's National Museum, it remained open for more than 50 years before it closed in 2014.

Did you ever visit?

I don't know if I did, if--if I was a baby, but, oh, and I was conceived there.

Yeah.

I guess that's my first visit.

Yeah.

Ha ha ha!

Ha ha ha!

Gates: We wondered what had sparked Cliff Arquette's interest in Gettysburg.

Was there a Civil War soldier hidden somewhere in Patricia's family tree?

We found the answer 3 generations back in the service record of Patricia's third great-grandfather-- a man named Byron Kear.

Arquette: "Byron Kear.

Rank--Sergeant.

"Company--D. Name of Regiment-- 144th Infantry."

Gates: You know what that means?

He was enlisted.

In the Civil War, Wow.

so you had an ancestor who served in the Civil War.

Wow, that's wild.

Gates: Byron Kear enlisted in the Union Army in 1864, serving for just 4 months.

I wondered why he had spent so little time in the military.

Any guesses?

He wanted out.

I don't know why.

He was a smart guy.

He shot himself in the foot.

I don't know what happened.

"Cut that toe off.

I don't need that toe," Ha ha!

He was part of something called-- and I never heard of this-- they were called Hundred Days Men.

Wow, I didn't know that.

Gates: The Hundred Days Men were volunteer regiments who served short periods of time filling in as laborers and guards so that veteran troops could be freed up to fight on the front lines.

Would you like to see where your third great-grandfather served?

Yes, please.

Could you please turn the page?

That's an image of Union troops guarding Fort McHenry.

That's amazing.

It's really incredible.

Gates: Known as the Baltimore Bastille, Fort McHenry served as a prison camp for captured Confederate soldiers and Southern sympathizers.

Do you think that your grandfather had any idea that he had an ancestor who had served in the war?

I'm not sure.

Unfortunately, Cliff passed away and my dad passed away before we could really-- You know, we were wild teenagers.

We didn't really take the time to ask our dad, but I know he was such a Civil War buff, and he felt so connected to it.

Gates: Continuing our research, we were surprised to discover that Patricia's military roots ran even deeper.

Moving back on her family tree, incredibly, we found two more generations of soldiers.

Her sixth great-grandfather William Odell was a Revolutionary War veteran.

He enlisted in the Continental Army in the spring of 1776 and fought in the Battle of Long Island, the largest battle in the entire Revolutionary War, serving under General George Washington... Arquette: That's crazy.

Wow, he fought under George Washington.

Yeah.

Isn't that cool?

That's crazy.

Gates: but it was William's father Nehemiah Smith Odell who I was most excited to tell Patricia about.

We located military records from 1757 showing that Nehemiah served in the British Army during the Seven Years' War, a war known in North America as the French and Indian War.

"Captain Smedley's Company D, "Colony of Connecticut at the time "of alarm for relief.

Nehemiah Smith Odell."

You're looking at your seventh great-grandfather... Wow, that's crazy.

and Nehemiah fought in the French and Indian War, Wow.

so you got-- you got military people, like, jumping out of your family tree.

Yeah.

That's amazing.

Gates: The French and Indian War was one of the most significant conflicts of the 18th century.

From 1754 until 1763, the British battled with the French for dominance in the New World with both side allying with Native American nations to gain an advantage, and Patricia's seventh great-grandfather Nehemiah took part in one of its most famous battles-- the siege of Fort William Henry.

You've heard of the novel "Last of the Mohicans," right... Yes, yes.

by James Fenimore Cooper, and you've seen the movie with Daniel Day Lewis.

Mm-hmm.

This siege was the centerpiece of that story, and your seventh great-grandfather Nehemiah Odell was there.

Wow, my gosh.

Gates: In August of 1757, French and Indian troops surrounded a British fort on Lake George, New York.

For 6 days, Patricia's ancestor and roughly 2,300 of his fellow soldiers endured constant bombardment before they were finally forced to surrender, but the worst was yet to come.

Some Native Americans, feeling betrayed by the terms of surrender, attacked the British column, murdering more than 100 men and women as they marched unarmed out of the fort.

It's one of the most notorious events in the history of colonial North America.

Fortunately, Patricia's seventh great-grandfather survived.

Wow, that's wild.

Hmm.

I heard rumblings that maybe we'd been here a long time... Yeah.

That's true.

but I didn't know when or where.

Gates: Learning that her ancestors had fought in 3 major wars was a revelation that complicated Patricia's own sense of identity.

Did you ever think of yourself as coming from a military family particularly?

Not really.

No.

Because my parents were civil rights activists and peace activists, even though my grandpa knew so much about the Civil War and soldiers and uniforms and all this, my family was so much about peace and about what war did to people and trying to move past war that I wa--I didn't-- I wasn't really raised looking at wars and battles.

But you told me early on that one of the reasons you pursued acting was that you're afraid and that bravery was a value for you.

Yeah.

Do you think that maybe that was, um, embedded in your family tree?

Yeah.

I think so, and, again, I think when they can really dissect DNA to this fine point, I think they'll find that in my family, people who fought for what they believed in.

Mm-hmm.

My family has carried all those dynamics with us.

Got the bravery gene, and you're warriors.

Ha ha ha!

We're warriors.

Gates: We had now traveled back several generations, introducing John, Julianne, and Patricia to members of their family whose lives were deeply affected by war.

Now I wanted to take my guests back even further to find their deepest roots in America.

For Julianne, this meant exploring the ancestry of her father Peter Moore Smith, a Vietnam veteran with over two decades of service in the Army and the product of a remarkable marriage.

Moore: Oh, Ima and Granddad.

Those are your grandparents, your father's parents, Charles Edward Smith and Frances Marril Haas.

Today that are both 97 years old and happily married.

Yes.

They are.

That's astonishing.

I know.

I just saw them a couple weeks ago.

Now, you lived with them when your father was in Vietnam.

What were they like, and what are your happiest memories?

They had a big house, um, on the Delaware River.

My grandfather built us a playhouse in the back yard.

I remember being happy and--and playing with my grandmother's jewelry and with her clothes.

It was just nice to--to have everybody around.

Gates: Julianne's grandparents provided love and stability during her peripatetic childhood, but as I began to research her grandfather Charles Smith, I soon discovered the family stability hadn't come easily.

Charles' father, Julianne's great-grandfather Charles Smith Sr., was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, in 1885, and his life was anything but stable.

Would you please read the transcribed section?

Moore: "Whereas Charles E. Smith "is a poor, white, male orphan "between the ages of 6 and 10 years and whereas Maggie Smith--" oh, my goodness-- "the mother "of the said orphan doth hereby bind "the said Charles E. Smith to the City of Philadelphia," signed, Maggie Smith.

So she just gave him up.

Mm-hmm.

Holy cow.

I didn't know that.

Mm.

Wow.

This application also explains that Charles' father had died Right.

and that Charles' mother Maggie was too poor to raise her son.

How does it feel to see this?

I mean, it's dreadful, right?

I mean, you think about how destitute you have to be to turn your child over to make them become a ward of the state.

That's awful.

Mm.

Um, wow.

Gates: It's a tragic story, but unraveling it led us to the identity of Charles' father, a man who shared a name with Julianne's own father-- Peter Moore Smith.

I wanted to tell Julianne more about her father's namesake.

After a trip to the National Archives, I discovered that these two men shared much more than just a name.

Now get ready for this.

We found this service card in the National Archives in Washington.

Would you please read the highlighted section?

Oh, my father's gonna love this.

"Peter M. Smith-- Private, Company 1, "2nd Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry, Mexican War."

That means that your great-great-grandfather Peter served in the United States Army during the Mexican-American War.

He enlisted when he was 15 years old.

Wow.

Wow.

Yeah, so it runs in the family.

Ha ha!

Ha ha ha!

So you know anything from high-school history class, anything about the Mexican-American-- I don't remember anything about the Mexican-Amer-- I don't remember.

That's terrible.

Gates: In May of 1846, a bitter feud to define the border between the United States and Mexico boiled over, leading to war between the two nations.

Julianne's great-great-grandfather, just 15 years old, volunteered to fight.

Now, the map shows the movements of Peter's regiment.

That's nuts.

They traveled by boat from New Orleans to Veracruz, and then they fought their way towards Mexico City, and in their path was this fortress.

Look there.

Gates: Peter and his regiment were charged with storming the Castle of Chapultepec, a military academy outside of Mexico City.

It sat atop a 200-foot hill with views on every side, and it was well-defended.

On September 13, 1847, the Americans used ladders to scale the castle's walls, taking it in a matter of hours.

The next day, Peter's regiment seized control of Mexico City.

The U.S.

has won the war and gained over 500,000 square miles of land, opening the American West and completely changing the shape of our nation, but disagreements over whether this new territory should allow slavery inflamed tensions that would eventually lead to the Civil War, and once again, Peter would be called to arms.

We wanted to find out what your great-great-grandfather Peter did when the Mexican-American War ended.

Records revealed that just over a decade later, Peter's life took an unexpected turn.

Would you please turn the page?

Oh, my gosh.

"Peter M. Smith.

Rank--Corporal, "Age--33, "Joined for Duty-- November 22, 1864.

Drafted."

Drafted.

This is a list of soldiers who fought for the Union Army... That's right, the Civil War.

in Pennsylvania's 82nd Regiment.

This means that your great-great-grandfather was back in the Army.

Drafted at 33.

Now, does it surprise you that your Smith line leads to a soldier who served in two different wars?

It's doesn't, actually, knowing my father.

I'm not surprised.

That's so interesting.

Wow, that's unfortunate.

That's tough, two wars.

Oh, yeah.

Bad luck.

Yeah.

Mm, two rough wars, too.

Gates: Peter served in Pennsylvania's 82nd Regiment from November 22, 1864, to July 13, 1865.

His service, while brief, came at a critical point in the war.

Peter marched under General Ulysses S. Grant, and he was with Grant on April 9, 1865, at the Battle of Appomattox Courthouse, after which General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army, ushering in the close of the Civil War.

Moore: That's crazy.

Yeah.

I had no idea.

Mm-hmm.

My family's gonna be thrilled.

I mean, that's a great part of history.

I mean, if you had to pick a battle to be part of, that was it.

That would be it.

He had good timing.

That would be in terms of American battle.

Yeah.

That's--that's really something.

That's pretty special.

Gates: We'd already introduced Senator McCain to a Confederate ancestor with whom he shared the improbable coincidence of being a prisoner of war.

Now we would travel back to the American Revolution to discover another one of the senator's ancestors, a man whose journey foreshadowed McCain's own trajectory from war hero to political maverick.

The story begins at 1775 with McCain's fourth great-grandfather Nathaniel Scales, who lived in North Carolina when it was still one of the original 13 colonies.

Now, Senator, that's your fourth great-grandfather.

Have you ever heard of this guy No.

No.

Nathaniel Scales?

Well, when Nathaniel was just 17 years old, the colonies revolted against the King of England.

The place where your fourth great-grandfather Nathaniel lived was a hotbed for the Tories.

Gates: During this bitter and fractious period, colonists were forced to choose sides.

The majority in Nathaniel Scales' hometown sided with the Tories, who were loyal to the King of England, rather than with the rebelling patriots.

We wondered which side McCain's ancestor chose.

Can you tell me whose name you see here?

Nathaniel Scales.

This is a record of payments made to the men who served the colonial army under a man named Colonel James Martin.

I'm sure you're relieved to know that your ancestor was not a Tory.

I'm glad to hear that.

Ha ha!

He was a patriot.

When the time came to choose, he chose the right side.

I'm glad.

He signed up for freedom.

What do you think it was like for your ancestor to fight against his neighbors... Mm.

for this vague, abstract ideal called democracy?

You know, we--we fail to remember how-- how much animosity was displayed in that war.

Mm-hmm.

Sometimes it even broke up families, so I think it was very difficult, and I think of him as a great role model and--and hero in many respects.

Gates: Like McCain, Nathaniel Scales' independent spirit gave him the strength to fight for his ideals, even when it pitted him against the majority.

His courage paid off.

North Carolina was the first colony to authorize a vote in favor of independence, and as we searched through the archives of North Carolina's newfound government, we found the most stunning coincidence.

This is a list of men who served in the North Carolina State Senate, Senator.

Oh, wow, there he is.

I'll be darned.

Your fourth great-grandfather Nathaniel was a state senator.

Did you know that?

I did not.

Wow.

Well, maybe that was part of my inspiration.

Yeah.

Maybe, again, it's in your DNA.

You have an ancestor who was a patriot.

He fought for democracy.

He went against the grain when he was in a majority-Tory neighborhood, and then he was elected to the Senate.

This has been enlightening and, frankly, kind of encouraging to me, really.

Gates: Just when we thought there was little else we could do to surprise the senator, we discovered a connection between him and our nation's most iconic patriot.

Now, this family tree shows your ancestors on your maternal grandfather's branch of the family.

We were able to trace this line all the way back, Senator, to your eighth great-grandfather.

Wow.

His name was John Washington.

He was born about 1633 in England, and he had another, uh, descendent, one of your cousins.

Let's turn the page.

OK.

Turn the page.

Oh, George Washington?

No.

How is that--ha ha!

That is your cousin.

Is that right?

I'll be darned.

That is amazing.

Now I am stunned.

Tell me that connection.

Your eighth great-grandfather John Washington was also the great-grandfather of George Washington... Really?

so that means you, John McCain, and George Washington are second cousins 7 times removed.

I'll be darned.

That is stunning.

I mean, now I-- now I'm flabb-- now I'm speechless.

Not often that I am rendered speechless, but I am now.

That is amazing.

It's truly amazing.

Gates: We'd already learned that Patricia's ancestors had deep roots in the United States, contributing to the founding and growth of the country through their service in 3 pivotal wars.

Now we wanted to trace her family back even further.

Patricia had heard stories that the Arquettes originally came from Canada.

We investigated and discovered a deed of sale from 1839 in the archives of Wayne County, Michigan.

It records the moment that the Arquette family settled in the United States.

Arquette: "Whereas it appears the full payment "has been made by the said Peter Arcouette for land containing 40 acres."

Patricia, this is the earliest record we have of your third great-grandfather living in the United States.

You're looking-- That is amazing.

Today the property is an empty lot in a rural area 20-- Do we still own it?

Ha ha ha!

Ha ha ha!

No.

You can get it.

Back taxes?

It's 21 miles south of Detroit.

It's so cool, I can't believe it.

Ha ha!

Isn't that cool?

I'm really proud of my Detroit connection, let me tell you-- Motor City, music.

I shot part of "True Romance" there.

I'm all about Detroit.

Gates: Now we knew that Patricia's third great-grandfather Peter Arcouette was, in fact, a Canadian who bought land in Detroit in 1839.

Next, we wanted to learn more about the Arquette family back in Canada.

Buried in an Ontario archive, we found a document that revealed Peter's origins.

So would you please turn the page?

Wow, this is amazing.

"8th of October, 1790, a baptism was performed for Pierre, only son of Alexis Arcouet--" Mm-hmm.

spelled differently, and Marguerite LaForest."

Wow.

That is the baptismal record for your third great-grandfather Peter.

He was born in the Town of Sandwich in Ontario, Canada, right across the Detroit River.

Wow, that's wild.

You know, America, early Canada, what was that like to be here?

Man, it was funky.

That's what it was like.

Yeah.

Like the hippie commune.

Yeah, like--ha ha ha!

Yeah.

Gates: This baptismal record identified Patricia's fourth great-grandfather Alexis, born in Quebec in 1736.

His name resonated with Patricia.

You know, my sister's transgender, Alexis... Oh, really?

but she changed her name to Alexis, and we never knew we had an Alexis.

My God, then you have an Alexis.

I have to tell her.

Yeah.

You got to tell her first thing.

Ha ha!

Also, I never knew they changed our spelling of our name from A-R-C-O-U-E-T-T-E to "Arquette."

This is mind-boggling, I got to tell you.

This--this would've been lost forever for our whole family.

I'm so grateful for this.

It's incredible.

Gates: Now that we had the names of Patricia's Canadian-born fourth great-grandparents, we were able to trace her Arquette line back nearly 400 years to her sixth great-grandfather Jean Arcouet dit Lajeunesse, the first Arquette to emigrate to Canada.

Can you see where he was born?

In France.

Your Arcouet ancestors were all French-Canadian colonists.

They left France and went to Canada as colonists.

Wow, that's so wild.

Gates: French settlers began arriving in Canada in the early 17th century.

Soon after, Patricia's sixth great-grandfather Jean settled in Quebec when it was little more than a fur-trading outpost, meaning Patricia's ancestor had arrived at a true frontier.

You're ancestors were really extreme pioneers... Mm.

and they were among the first Europeans in all of Canada.

I feel like I can feel my French-Canadian ancestry now, and I know I want to explore Quebec more.

Gates: We had discovered Patricia's pioneering Canadian ancestors.

Now we wanted to learn more about their French origins.

Have you ever been to France?

Oh, yeah.

I love it.

Mm-hmm.

Well, we know where your family's from.

Wow, that's, like, so exciting.

We learned that your original surname Arcouet Lajeunesse originates in the southwest coast of France near the Bay of Biscay 300 miles from Paris... Wow.

and the name originally means--ready for this?-- shield of iron.

Oh, my dad would love to know all this.

I'm so grateful that we can pass this on to our kids.

Gates, voice-over: We'd reached the end of the paper trail for all 3 of our guests.

Now it was time to see what DNA analysis could tell us about their more distant past.

Sometimes the DNA results confirm what we have found in the paper records... So let's see what you are, Patricia Arquette.

You are 99% European.

OK.

Ha ha ha!

Not much Native American.

♪ Wah wah ♪ Ha ha ha!

99.9% European.

Ha ha ha!

Ha ha ha!

I'm shocked.

I'm absolutely shocked.

Gates, voice-over: but other times, the DNA can reveal an unexpected ancestor.

Senator, you're 0.5% Native American, another--another warrior, right?

Well, frankly, I'm honored.

Mm.

Yeah.

I am.

I really am honored.

Gates: The family trees of John McCain, Julianne Moore, and Patricia Arquette are teeming with brave men who served and sacrificed during wartime.

I was deeply moved by their stories, and in the end, I know my guests were moved, as well.

Arquette: It's really, really powerful.

I feel, like, a different connection to the military history in this country and... Mm-hmm.

just the richness of my family tree.

This is really extraordinary because I think there is so much about being alive that's a mystery, Mm-hmm.

so it's nice when you gather more information about yourself.

My ancestors shaped me... Absolutely.

and I was inspired by their service and sacrifice, and, frankly, I am more inspired having this-- uh, this information and more proud, I guess, is the right description.

Join me next time when we unlock the secrets of the past for 3 new guests on another episode of "Finding Your Roots."

Announcer: To learn about "Finding Your Roots," visit PBS.org/FindingYourRoots and join the conversation on Twitter at #FindingYourRoots.

"Finding Your Roots" Season 3 is available on DVD.

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