Tonight on CBS NCIS returns with an all-new Tuesday, April 14, 2020, season 17 episode 20 called, “The Arizona” and we have your weekly NCIS recap below. On tonight’s NCIS season 17 episode 20, “The Arizona,” as per the CBS synopsis, “The team attempts to verify the identity of Joe Smith, who claims that he has served in the U.S.S. Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor.”
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A returning serviceman came home to find his house broken into. Admiral Michael Caplinger came home after months at sea and he found his home tossed, his wife missing, and blood on the floor. The belief is that the blood belongs to Caplinger’s wife Gloria. Gloria wasn’t at the house and she wasn’t answering her cell phone. Caplinger thought his wife might have been taken. He called NCIS and they searched the home. They later found something missing. They found out that Caplinger’s daughter’s Purple Heart was stolen from a glass display and that whoever broke in had cut themselves on the glass. And so that at least explained the blood.
The missing wife was cleared up as well. Gloria had stayed with a friend and her cell phone had been off. She called her husband back the moment she turned her phone again. Gloria was okay and so the team wasn’t dealing with a missing person or someone in danger. They were dealing with mere theft. The Purple Heart was stolen and the thief had even left behind a message. They asked to meet him later at a motel. The team went there. They ran into a man who identified himself as Joseph Smith and he was ninety-five years old. The old man wasn’t a threat to anyone. He also wasn’t denying stealing the Purple Heart.
Smith said he stole it. He hidden it somewhere and he wasn’t going to return it until he got what he wanted. Smith wanted his ashes to be interred on the USS Arizona. He wrote to Admiral Caplinger to explain to him how he had served on the ship under his brother’s name because he technically took young to join the Navy on his own and that he had been there during the Pearl Harbor Attack. Smith said he swerved during WWII. He now just wants to make sure that his service was acknowledged and Caplinger had turned him down. Caplinger couldn’t approve of Smith’s request because it was nearly impossible to prove.
Caplinger had turned Smith down. Smith later got revenge by breaking into the man’s house and stealing a Purple Heart. He didn’t know the Purple Heart belonged to Caplinger’s late daughter. She died to receive that award. Her grandfather had been so proud of him that he engraved the Purple Heart with a special message and he died two months later. The Purple Heart was very important to the Caplinger family. They wanted it back and Smith was only going to give it back when NCIS proved he served on the USS Arizona. Smith told the team his story. He said he took his brother Henry’s name and so the team just had to prove it.
They searched the records. They found a picture which could be Smith or it could be his brother. There was no way of proving who it was because Henry Smith didn’t “like” photos and so the team had a hard time giving Smith what he wanted. They checked his scars. His scars were old and they do seem to be caused by a terrible fire. This wasn’t enough to prove he was there. Several servicemen were thrown from the blast into the ocean and so the burns alone weren’t enough. Smith needed to give them details. He needed to talk to them and the team had a hard time getting him there.
Smith thought they could prove he was on the ship with DNA. He didn’t want to tell them about the worst day in his life and so Gibbs used an old trick he had with his dad. He brought Smith a project. He gave Smitha a busted projector and he had him fix it. Smith. He also spotted some of the scenes were showing the destruction of the USS Arizona and so that shut him right up. Smith said he wasn’t going to talk about that day. He refused to talk about that day and the team was getting nowhere with finding the Purple Heart on their own. They found out Smith had taken a cab to the Admiral’s home. They tried to speak to the cab driver and he took off before they could chase him.
The cab driver was their best lead. Without him, the team had nothing and Caplinger didn’t want to play the old man’s games. He wanted that Purple Heart back. He wanted to press charges if he couldn’t get it back and so Vance was willing to charge Smith. Smith was guilty of the crime. He was also a known con artist. His history showed that he had been in and out of trouble most of his adult life. He could have lied about being about the USS Arizona as well. Sloane said it could be stolen valor and that Smith wanted the recognition that his brother received. And so Gibbs went back to Smith intent on proving her wrong.
Smith reminded Gibbs of his dad. He didn’t want to believe Smith was lying and so he pushed Smith into talking about that day. It was the only way to clear all of this up. He pushed and he pushed until Smith was finally talking. Smith talked about the worst day of the life. He talked about his pain and how he wanted to be laid to rest with the only family he has ever known. Smith convinced Gibbs. Gibbs then gave him his signature promising to inter Smith’s ashes with his brothers. Gibbs didn’t really have the authority to do so and yet it got Smith to open up. Smith revealed where he hid the Purple Heart.
He said he hid in the air vent at the motel. Gibbs and Smith went there together and the Purple Heart wasn’t there. Smith had been so confused. He had a heart attack and that’s when the truth came out. Smith was dying. He was dying and he had dementia. He couldn’t really remember everything. He just knew he hid the Purple Heart in a vent and so the team searched the vents at the Caplinger home. That’s where they later found the Purple Heart. They would have liked to have told Smith they found it only he died. He passed away in his sleep. After he died, his body was autopsied and they found shrapnel embedded into his arm. And this proved that he served on the USS Arizona.
Joseph Smith’s ashes were interred with the ship he served on. The team was able to carry through his final wishes and Gibbs personally saw to it himself.
THE END!
