Can I be compensated for all the time I worked?

I have a question about the unpaid overtime. I have heard the ads on television and I am curious. I used to be an assistant district manager for a very large Tax Preparation Firm. My duties were to assist the District manager in the operations of running the district. I was doing bookkeeping, payroll, light construction, cleaning, etc. I was also conducting interviews, training, and even meeting with clients about their tax issues. I was told that I could set my own schedule and my contractual requirements were for 55 hours a week.

This is NOT what was happening--my hours were set for me from usually 8AM until 10PM monday thru friday, 9AM thru 6PM Saturdays and 9AM until noon Sundays during tax season and from 8AM thru 6PM during the rest of the year, provided that there wasn't training classes, out of town meetings, or any other type of special situations (Yearly, we were going to a "convention" that lasted an entire week where we had to be in training classes upwards of 10 hours a day). Although the company reimburssed for travel expenses, I didn't see any additional compensation in my hourly pay. When I looked at my paychecks, they were for a certain hour of work at around $15.37 an hour. I appologize, but I no longer have any copies of my pay checks.

I was also unable to take vacations or sick time (I did, however recieve compensation for this time when I resigned my postion 4 years ago). I feel that this company took extreme advantage of me and then didn't fully compensate me for my time. At the time I resigned (my own decision, I was NOT forced or coerces into leaving this company) I was working in excess of 80 hours a week. I have also suffered some health issues since then because of the stress levels I was under. My family doctor thinks (unofficially) that the stress cause my immune system to temporarily shut down or was severly compromised.

My question is: Can I be compensated for the additional time I worked during those 3 years as an Assistant District Manager over the contractual 55 hours a week?