Heroes: Made in the USA

In the past, worried parents had to wait years for a cure to their babies' congenital conditions that cause a blue complexion, but Dr. Albert Pacifico's surgical team is providing new hope. Gary Steiner and Kenny Polk run marathons as a team, and inspire others to work together. Claude Pepper, an 86-year-old congressman, is truly earning his reputation as a champion for America's senior citizens.

In America's Heartland, Virignia Allen wanted to do more for AIDS patients than just raise money. She provided them with a home, and now she's educating an entire city. In Ohio, Nancy Leibold constructed her law practice to specialize in representing deaf people. On Skid Row in Los Angeles, Tex Lacey helps shelter residents make something great of themselves.

Cus D'Amato helped make Mike Tyson the youngest heavyweight champ in boxing history. Learn why he was a hero to Tyson and the entire boxing world. Pepper Edmiston created Camp Good Times for children with illnesses to share some happy moments amidst their daunting treatments. For children suffering the trauma of divorce, Susie Yale found a way to help them share their feelings.

Accomplished bull rider Charlie Sampson is one of America's contemporary cowboys. Dr. Charlie Clements survived fifty combat missions as an Air Force pilot in Vietnam-now he must dodge bullets while caring for the victims of El Salvador's civil war. Actor Sally Struthers sponsors seven children in Third World countries as part of her work with the Christian Children's Fund.

For most Americans, winning an Olympic gold medal would be the victory of a lifetime, but for wrestler Jeff Blatnick, it was only the beginning. On the streets of Los Angeles, the police department crash unit wages war on street gangs. Chicago super-teacher Marva Collins uses a combination of love and high expectations in her curriculum to heavily impact kids' lives for the better.

America's premier astronaut, Admiral Alan Shepard, goes to space camp, looking for the right stuff in tomorrow's space explorers. Olympic gold medal diver Greg Louganis soars up into the air like an eagle before piercing the water with hardly a ripple. Vietnam vet Ron Kovic lived the 'Platoon' experience. He also shares the goal of that award-winning movie: to make sure it never happens again.

Decathlon champion extraordinaire Bruce Jenner, now known as Caitlyn, tries his hand at professional race car driving. Susan Butcher shows that women, too, can accomplish great feats of endurance, having won the Iditarod for three consecutive years. Father George Clements went against the Archbishop of Chicago's wishes to become the first Catholic priest to adopt a child in the area.

Rock drummer Keith Knudsen arranges fundraising events for Vietnam War vets, but his most celebrated recent achievement was reuniting his former band, The Doobie Brothers! Bob Burton reforms juvenile delinquents into upstanding young adults in the American wilderness. After hearing about the Chernobyl disaster, Dr. Robert Gale honorably sprung into action and volunteered his services.

John Elway was recruited by professional baseball teams, but the Denver Broncos are awfully happy that he chose and pursued pro football instead. The 442nd Regimental Combat Unit suffered more casualties than any other unit in American military history. Activist Carol Hodne advises struggling family farmers on how to stave off bankruptcy and foreclosure-and one of those farmers is her dad.

Ervin Johnson, the son of an auto factory worker, is making magic with the Los Angeles Lakers. Though they look like ordinary teenage girls, the capable and formidable hands of Kristie Phillips and Phoebe Mills carry the U.S. hopes for Gold in '88. The son of migrant farm workers, Luis Valdez directed the hit film 'La Bamba' and became an American success story of the '80s.

At 50, Richard Petty is the oldest active driver in stock car racing, and he refuses to retire until he claims one more big championship. After qualifying for the Olympic trials, world championship bull rider Lynn Jankowski is now a woman with a new mission. United States Senator Jake Garn was the first senator in space and he continues his heroic streak by donating a kidney to his daughter.

Atlanta Braves star Dale Murphy is a hero with heart and he can play "Angel of Mercy" as capably as he can play baseball. Chicago teacher and state legislator Jesse White uses his spare time to teach kids how to FLY out of poverty and disadvantage by utilizing the power of their own bodies. Though she's only ten years old, Chrissy McKenney is a wonderful mentor for deaf children in Mississippi.

John Wayne played Paul 'Red' Adair in a feature film, one legend portraying another. He's king of the oil well firefighters, having transformed the extinguishing of oil well blowouts. Many are called, but few are chosen to be Blue Angels, the elite aerial artists of the Navy. Her appearance in Playboy made history, and struck a blow for human rights. Meet Ellen Stohl: a very special Playmate.

The Soviets call him a criminal, but the people of Afghanistan call cameraman Mike Hoover a hero. Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone hardly scratched the surface of Richard Boyle's life in his film 'Salvador,' but there's enough material to more sequels than 'Rocky' and 'Star Trek' have birthed combined. Documentary filmmaker Jeff Harmon never lets fear come between his camera and the story.

The Washington Bullets drafted Tyrone 'Muggsy' Bogues in the first round, and the 5'3" rookie plans to live up to their expectations. Actor Thomas Gist traveled a long road before landing a role in the pilot episode of the 'Slap Maxwell' television series. Zina Bethune once danced for her and George Balanchine's New York City ballet, now she dances through The Disabled Children of Dance outreach.

Doctor Bernie Siegel says that love and camaraderie are just as vital to success as chemotherapy. Reverend Cecil Williams of San Francisco is a self-professed entertainer and politician, and his Glide Memorial Church packs audiences. Non-violent resistance may be past its prime in some quarters, but Cesar Chavez is still weaponizing it against toxic agricultural pesticides.

Whitewater racing was considered a predominately European sport until two young Americans, John Lugbill and David Hearn, made waves and claimed the World Championship trophy. Today, hundreds of women in the U.S can defend themselves against violent attack thanks to Matthew Thomas. An unsung hero of Broadway musical theater, swingman Jordan Leeds has done his job best when no one knows he's there.

Former basketball coach John Wooden took UCLA where no team had gone before-to ten NCAA championship wins. When she swam the Bering Strait, Lynne Cox blazed a trail into Russian territory, swimming history, and the annals of medical science. Eleven-year-old John Kevin Hill saw a blank space in the Guinness Book of Records and filled it with his own historic flight across the United States.

The only man in NBA history to score 100 points in a single game is all-star Wilt Chamberlain. King of contemporary American theatre Joseph Papp discovered the most cherished actors of our time, and helped America rediscover Shakespeare. Veteran writer and statesman Norman Cousins is living proof that the ills of the body are all in the mind, and prescribes the same cure for nuclear power.