broke the news to his parents. when i came home at 3:00, all my children were at my house. they were told, which was that it looked like a cardiac event and he didn t survive it. but we just couldn t believe it. why didn t you believe it? well, he was always in good shape, exercised and everything. all right, he s a little overweight. but still, he tried to, you know, he was he was healthy. reporter: his daughter jillian and son brad, found out from their mom, michele - tom s ex-wife. she just looked at both of us and no beating around the bush, just said, your dad is dead. and i just everything was a blur. i mean, words like, heart attack, and, aneurism, kept flying at me and none of it was registering. it was just utter heartbreak. the three of us stood together hugging and then collapsed onto the floor.
know, walking through a casino and someone s got a wedding gown on. reporter: the only guests were linda s parents and tom s mom and dad, marie and tom senior. reporter: did you feel reporter: did they seem like a good match? i think they fit, yeah. reporter: both tom and linda had kids from their previous marriages. but a few years later, they welcomed a child of their own, ryan. he would say all along through the pregnancy, i don t care if the girl or boy, i ll love it either way. you know, but i kinda knew deep down he wanted a boy. and so when he was delivered and he saw it was a boy, he cried. he was so happy. really happy. reporter: did you immediately see a relationship made in giants heaven after that? oh absolutely. reporter: they were a blended family his, mine and ours as they liked to call it. linda had a daughter who lived with her and tom. while, tom s two kids from his first marriage lived in colorado, brad and daughter jillian. i grew up knowing th
well, it was unusual, you know, walking through a casino and someone s got a wedding gown on. reporter: the only guests were linda s parents and tom s mom and dad, marie and tom senior. reporter: did you feel touched that they had asked you to join in this special occasion? absolutely. reporter: did they seem like a good match? i think they fit, yeah. reporter: both tom and linda had kids from their previous marriages. but a few years later, they welcomed a child of their own, ryan. he would say all along through the pregnancy, i don t care if the girl or boy, i ll love it either way. you know, but i kinda knew deep down he wanted a boy. and so when he was delivered and he saw it was a boy, he cried. he was so happy. really happy. reporter: did you immediately see a relationship made in giants heaven after that? oh absolutely. reporter: they were a blended family his, mine and ours as they liked to call it. linda had a daughter who lived with her and tom. while,
when i came home at 3:00, all my children were at my house. they were told, which was that it looked like a cardiac event and he didn t survive it. but we just couldn t believe it. why didn t you believe it? well, he was always in good shape, exercised and everything. all right, he s a little overweight. but still, he tried to, you know, he was he was healthy. reporter: his daughter jillian and son brad, found out from their mom, michele - tom s ex-wife. she just looked at both of us and no beating around the bush, just said, your dad is dead. and i just everything was a blur. i mean, words like, heart attack, and, aneurism, kept flying at me and none of it was registering. it was just utter heartbreak. the three of us stood together hugging and then
it was found just south of the search area by my son and i, my son, brad. amongst other things it is just something that you think of the person who dropped it, from the coat it came from. it means something to us, that f is special to bring it up to light again and study it and hopefully it s another clue to the encampment. jon: but it doesn t say colonial army, united states army. nothing did in 1777. washington s men it wasn t really a country. the proper military insignias came about really in the following years into the war. but this was, again, very early on. jon: washington s men faced terrible conditions that winter with frigid temperatures and dwindling food supplies. they battled just to stay alive as they struggled for freedom on a shoestring budget.o now from this open field in chatham township, new jersey, bill styple is telling their story one artifact at a time.