Lost in Shangri-la
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99 brought along an unusual passenger: Ibid., part 13.
99 “They see us by now”: Ibid., part 7. Hastings, SLD, is the source of the entire dialogue following their discovery by Captain Baker in the B-17.
100 “a limitless sea of green”: Sheehan, Missing Plane, p. 214.
100 saved them in the middle of a jungle: “End of Adventure Is Only Beginning, McCollom Finds,” undated clipping from Trenton, Missouri, newspaper, McCollom’s scrapbook.
100 they weren’t alone: Helenma Wandik, interview by author, February 1, 2010.
100 drop two life rafts as markers: Russell Brines, “Shangri-La On New Guinea,” Associated Press story datelined Manila, June 8, 1945, Walter’s scrapbook. See also St. George, “Rescue from Shangri-La,” p. 6.
100 a message to the Sentani Airstrip: Ibid. See also MACR, p. 4.
101 “back in Hollandia by Sunday”: Hastings, SLD, part 7.
101 “the damn hard candy”: Ibid.
102 a faraway pack of dogs: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.
102 “Do you hear something funny?”: Hastings, SLD, part 7.
102 the noise that native children made: Ibid.
102 “a tasty dinner was waiting in the camote patch”: Ibid.
103 dozens of nearly naked black men: John McCollom, interview, October 1997. In his account, McCollom places the number of natives at “about forty.” In SLD, part 8, Margaret Hastings writes there were “about a hundred men.”
10: EARL WALTER, JUNIOR AND SENIOR
104 “enough equipment to stock a small country store”: St. George, “Rescue from Shangri-La,” p. 6.
104 lipstick and bobby pins: Ibid.
105 outfitting an overland trek: St. George, “Rescue from Shangri-La,” p. 6. See also Gerard M. Devlin, Silent Wings: The Saga of the U.S. Army and Marine Combat Glider Pilots During World War II (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1985), p. 354.
106 the 503rd had recaptured the island of Corregidor: Rottman, Pacific Island Guide, p. 305.
106 the 511th had carried out a lightning raid: Larry Alexander, Shadows in the Jungle: The Alamo Scouts behind Enemy Lines in World War II (New York: NAL Caliber, 2009), p. 261.
107 taught biology and chaired the science department: “Col. Babcock Will Head Black-Foxe,” Los Angeles Times, May 20, 1962.
107 C. Earl Walter Jr.’s boyhood: C. Earl Walter Jr., interviews by author, July 6, 7, and 8, 2009. Walter provided the account of his family and upbringing, as well as his military service, the details of which were confirmed by sources including Gordon L. Rottman, U.S. Special Warfare Units in the Pacific Theater, 1941–45: Scouts, Raiders, Rangers and Reconnaissance Units (New York: Osprey, 2005). Parts of Walter’s account of his boyhood came from an undated interview he gave to filmmaker Sonny Izon for the documentary An Untold Triumph.
108 “We had been hiking all day”: Walter, interview by author, July 7, 2009.
108 “old enough to wonder about women”: Ibid.
108 “a machine gun over there”: Walter, interview with Izon.
109 “that might straighten me out”: Walter, interview by author, July 7, 2009.
109 Buster Keaton, Bing Crosby, Bette Davis, and Charlie Chaplin: Steven Mikulan, “Men of the Old School,” LA Weekly, May 17, 2001.
109 “sleep-away school for the sons of Hollywood rich people”: Valerie J. Nelson, “Sydney Chaplin Dies at 82; Stage Actor and Son of Charlie Chaplin,” Los Angeles Times, March 6, 2009.
109 “more money than I knew what to do with”: Walter, interview by author, July 7, 2009.
110 “no interest in anybody else”: Ibid.
110 “most likely stay on in the islands”: “Summary of Interview with Lt. Col. L.E. Parks, for Commander Vining, Per Cecil E. Walter Jr., 1. Lt., Inf., C-1314597,” document dated 15 July 1944, MacArthur Memorial Archives, Norfolk, Va.
111 the rank of major . . . lieutenant colonel: Robert Ross Smith, “The Conquest of Eastern Mindanao,” ch. 32 of U.S. Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific, Triumph in the Philippines, n. 43, http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-Triumph/USA-P-Triumph-32.html (retrieved September 4, 2009).
111 a fellow guerrilla leader: John Keats, They Fought Alone (New York: Pocket Books, 1965), pp. 170–71. The book focuses on Colonel Wendell Fertig and is based on his recollections, diaries, and reports. Forty years after its publication, in January 2003, the accuracy of the book, including the account involving C. Earl Walter Sr., was challenged by Clyde Childress, a retired army officer, in the Bulletin of the American Historical Collection 31, no. 1 (2003), http://ahcf.virtual-asia.com/html/pdf/123_Wendell_Fertig_s.pdf (retrieved October 25, 2009).
112 sent word to the younger Walter: “Summary of Interview with Lt. Col. L.E. Parks.”
112 “make me proud of his work”: Ibid.
112 “enough to make me envy”: Ibid.
112 the 5217th Reconnaissance Battalion: Rottman, U.S. Special Warfare Units, p. 39.
113 “do my bit in their extermination”: “Summary of Interview with Lt. Col. L. E. Parks.”
113 “my liking for combat”: Ibid.
11: UWAMBO
115 Time never knew it existed: Except where noted, this summary of Dani and Yali life, elaborated upon elsewhere, relies heavily on the work of Karl Heider, primarily Grand Valley Dani. It also synthesizes elements of the author’s visit to the Baliem Valley in January and February 2010: Robert Gardner’s 1964 documentary film Dead Birds; interviews in October and November 2009 with Myron Bromley and James Sunda, who in the 1950s were among the first missionaries to establish outposts in the Baliem Valley; Robert Gardner and Karl G. Heider, Gardens of War: Life and Death in the New Guinea Stone Age (New York: Penguin Books, 1974); Peter Matthiessen, Under the Mountain Wall: A Chronicle of Two Seasons in Stone Age New Guinea (1962; reprint, New York: Penguin Books, 1990); and H. L. Peters, “Some Observations of the Social and Religious Life of a Dani Group,” Irian: Bulletin of Irian Jaya Development 4, no. 2 (June 1974).
Upon reading this summary of Dani ways, Dr. Myron Bromley objected to the notion that the Dani people created no works of art. He wrote: “I think ‘no art’ is unfair. The carvings on arrowheads and water gourds were certainly decorative, and the colorful, showy body paint patterns and headdresses were eye catching both for local people and us. . . . And they were conscious of appearance in their clothing, too. I still recall the man who asked me, ‘Do you think I look better in the straight gourd I have on today, or the curled one I had on yesterday?’ There was attention given to tying the gourd as it grew to cause it to curl, if that was the desired ‘style.’ ” In deference to Dr. Bromley’s objections, I changed the wording to read “no lasting works of art.” Ultimately, on this point I relied upon Professor Karl Heider, who writes on page 62 of Grand Valley Dani: “There are countless ways to define ‘art,’ but according to most of them, the Dani have little or none.” Heider acknowledges the ornamentation of certain items such as arrow points and spears, but he says they lie “somewhat in the hazy area between art and craftsmanship.”
115 a single word to describe both place and time: Douglas Hayward, “Time and Society in Dani Culture,” Irian: Bulletin of Irian Jaya Development 11, nos. 2–3 (June and October 1983): 31–32.
116 terms for only two: Eleanor R. Heider, “Probabilities, Sampling, and Ethnographic Method: The Case of Dani Colour Names,” Man, n.s., 7, no. 3 (September 1972): 448–66.
116 ignored the stars: Hayward, “Time and Society,” p. 35.
116 “Let me eat your feces”: Heider, Grand Valley Dani, p. 9.
116 natives . . . organized themselves: Ibid., pp. 67–69.
117 Their enemies were dili: Ibid., pp. 94–95.
117 “We people of the Baliem”: H. L. Peters, “Some Observations,” p. 76.
118 a moral obligation: Douglas Hayward, “Dani of Irian Jaya Before and After Conversion” (Sentani, Indonesia: Regions Press, 1980), p. 102. See also Peters, “Some Observations,” p. 77.
118 different parts of speech: Ibid., p. 77.
118 ghosts, called mogat: Heider, Grand Valley Dani, p. xi.
119 flesh of their enemies: Helenma Wandik, interview. See also Russell T. Hitt, Cannibal Valley: The Heroic Struggle for Christ in Savage New Guinea—The Most Perilous Mission Frontier in the World (New York: Harper & Row, 1962), pp. 120–29.
120 hoot of a cuckoo dove: Heider, Grand Valley Dani, p. 101.
120 hurled insults across the front lines: Ibid., p. 99.
120 gained social standing: Peters, “Some Observations,” p. 78.
120 abstained from sex for up to five years: Heider, Grand Valley Dani, p. 22. See also Karl G. Heider, “Dani Sexuality: A Low Energy System,” Man, n.s., 11, no. 2 (June 1976): 188–201.
120 a source of pleasure and recreation: Heider, Grand Valley Dani, p. 104.
120 one party would simply move away: Ibid., p. 93.
121 leaving them half-blind: Karl Heider noted this in the 1960s. Even after the end of native wars, boys still played with bows and grass arrows, and several boys with missing eyes were seen in early 2010.
121 all thumbs: Heider, Grand Valley Dani, p. 134.
121 An anthropologist: Ibid.
121 greasy orchid fibers: Ibid., p. 59.
122 “These are clearly human beings”: Margaret Mead, from a review of Dead Birds, included in a “promotional flyer” for the film dated November 18, 1963. Reprinted in Meiselas, Encounters with the Dani, p. 67.
122 driven inland by subsequent arrivals: Heider, Grand Valley Dani, p. 1.
122 “In the beginning”: Meiselas, Encounters with the Dani, p. 2, quoting Peter Sutcliffe in “The Day the Dani People Become Civilized, the Sun Will No Longer Rise,” Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, 1972.
123 called themselves iniatek, the originals: Peters, “Some Observations,” p. 10.
123 humans became separate: Heider, Grand Valley Dani, p. 127.
123 men, like birds, must die: Ibid., p. 126. See also Peters, “Some Observations,” p. 114.
123 “dead birds”: This idea is explored most vividly by filmmaker Robert Gardner in his landmark 1964 documentary about the Dani, Dead Birds. Gardner understood that the gap between the Dani and westerners was not as large as it might seem. He once wrote: “In Dead Birds my fondest hope was that my camera be a mirror for its viewers to see themselves.”
123 “Let us take revenge on our enemies together”: Peters, “Some Observations,” p. 76.
123 spirits that lived in the sky: Interviews by author with Tomas Wandik, February 1, 2010; Yunggukwe Wandik, February 3, 2010; and Helenma Wandik. See also Matthiessen, Under the Mountain Wall, p. 105.
124 village the natives called Uwambo: Tomas, Yunggukwe, and Helemna Wandik, interviews. This account of the natives’ reaction to the plane also draws from interviews conducted by Buzz Maxey in 1999 with the same Yali tribespeople and several others in a group.
125 A village leader named Yaralok Wandik: This story was recounted by his son, Tomas Wandik, and also by his nephew, Helenma Wandik, in interviews on February 1, 2010. A separate version of these events that agreed with this account was given to Buzz Maxey in 1999 by Helenma and Tomas Wandik, and a group of other Yali men that included Miralek Walela, Yilu Wandik, Waragin Dekma, and two others whose first names were Yare and Wasue.
12: WIMAYUK WANDIK, AKA “CHIEF PETE”
128 The native men: Helenma and Tomas Wandik, interviews.
128 tasted human flesh: Helenma Wandik confirmed that his people ate the hands of enemies killed in battle in an interview with the author. Cannibalism among the valley people is discussed in numerous anthropological research papers, but perhaps the most vivid description is found in Hitt, Cannibal Valley, pp. 120–29.
128 themselves, their allies, and their enemies: Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson, First Contact: New Guinea’s Highlanders Encounter the Outside World (New York: Viking Penguin, 1987), p. 36.
129 come into contact with the Archbold expedition: Helenma and Tomas Wandik, interviews.
130 “matched a whole army”: Hilton, Lost Horizon, p. 157.
130 Albert Einstein: This famous quote has many forms. The one used here is commonly accepted, though another frequently cited version is: “I do not know how the Third World War will be fought, but I can tell you what they will use in the Fourth—rocks!” See Alice Calaprice, The New Quotable Einstein (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2005), p. 173.
130 a native stew: Hastings, SLD, part 8: “If I was going to end up in a jungle stew-pot, the natives would have to come and get me.”
130 “We haven’t any weapon”: Hastings, SLD, part 7.
130 McCollom watched: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.
131 more like one hundred: Hastings, SLD, part 8. Except where otherwise noted, the account of the first meeting between the natives and the survivors, including dialogue, comes from this portion of the SLD.
131 “feed us before they kill us”: Robert Pearman, “Three Who Lived to Tell About It,” Milwaukee Journal, December 22, 1961, p. 16.
131 He was wiry and alert: Photograph of the native the survivors called “Pete,” courtesy of Betty McCollom.
132 meet him halfway: In his interview with Robert Gardner, McCollom described the scene of the two of them on the log. In SLD, Margaret Hastings tells the story slightly differently, with the natives coming across the log to meet the survivors in the clearing. In other respects, their accounts agree.
132 McCollom reached out: John McCollom, interview, October 1997. In her SLD, Margaret Hastings credited the native leader with extending his hand, after which McCollom, “weak with relief, grabbed it and wrung it.”
133 a college classmate: John McCollom, interviews, October 1997 and May 13, 1998.
133 Wimayuk Wandik: The native the survivors called “Pete” was identified as Wimayuk Wandik by his son, Helenma Wandik, on February 1, 2010, from a photograph taken by C. Earl Walter Jr. This identification was subsequently confirmed by Wimayuk Wandik’s niece and nephew, Yunggukwe and Tomas Wandik.
134 He and his fellow villagers were traders: Helenma Wandik, interview.
135 “Pete and his boys”: Hastings, SLD, part 9.
135 a terrible smell: Helenma and Tomas Wandik, interviews.
136 bit into the stalk: Ibid.
136 “The native who had the garden”: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.
138 bright blue eyes: Helenma and Tomas Wandik, interviews.
138 “loved Pete and his followers”: Hastings, SLD, part 9.
139 might dislodge . . . his etai-eken: This discussion of the “seeds of singing” and the treatment of wounds relies largely on Gardner and Heider, Gardens of War, pp. 88, 140–41. This treatment of wounds is also described in several places by Matthiessen, Under the Mountain Wall, p. 227.
140 “They took the chow”: St. George, “Hidden Valley.”
13: COME WHAT MAY
142 Newspapers had detailed the atrocities: Authoritative reports about the Bataan Death March became common fare in early 1944. One example among many was an editorial published in The New York Times on January 30, 1944: “Revenge! The Nation Demands It.”
142 a daring escape: Camilo Ramirez, interview by filmmaker Sonny Izon, n.d.
142 leading grueling runs: Walter, interview by author, July 7, 2009.
142 “‘As soon as I can get us there’”: Ibid.
142 the son of General Courtney Whitney: Captain C. Earl Walter Jr., to Brigadier General Courtney Whitney, March 13, 1945, in Walter’s personnel file at MacArthur Memorial Archives, Richmond, Va. It’s worth noting that Whitney was not universally admired. MacArthur’s biographer, William Manchester, wrote, “From the standpoint of the guerrillas, [Whitney] was a disastrous choice. Undiplomatic and belligerent, he was condescending toward all Filipinos except those who, like himself, had substantial investments in
the islands.” See William Manchester, American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur, 1880–1964 (New York: Little, Brown, 1978), p. 378.
142 a blunt letter: Ibid.
143 “a trait I inherited from my father.”: Ibid.
143 responded two weeks later: Whitney to Walter, March 27, 1945, in Walter’s personnel file at MacArthur Memorial Archives.
143 He wrote the general in response: Walter to Whitney, April 2, 1945, in Walter’s personnel file at MacArthur Memorial Archives.
144 frustrated to the point of distraction: Walter, interview by author, July 7, 2009.
144 “I was an only son”: Ibid.
144 Whether his father had such power: A personnel file for C. Earl Walter Sr. at the MacArthur Memorial Archives contains only a single sheet of paper, confirming his commissioning as an officer, according to archivist James Zobel.
145 “uplift and Christianize them”: General James Rusling, “Interview with President William McKinley,” Christian Advocate, January 22, 1903, p. 17, reprinted in Daniel Schirmer and Stephen Rosskamm Shalom, eds., The Philippines Reader (Boston: South End Press, 1987), pp. 22–23.
145 “a humane war”: Stuart Creighton Miller, Benevolent Assimilation: The American Conquest of the Philippines, 1899–1903 (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1984), p. 253. See also Thomas Bender, Rethinking American History in a Global Age (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2002), p. 282.
145 opportunities were limited: Alex S. Fabros, “California’s Filipino Infantry: A Short History of the 1st and 2nd Filipino Infantry Regiments of the U.S. Army in World War II,” California State Military Museum, www.militarymuseum.org/Filipino.html, p. 3 (retrieved November 21, 2009).
146 more than a hundred thousand transplanted Filipinos: Ibid., p. 1.
146 a strange limbo: Linda A. Revilla, “ ‘Pineapples,’ ‘Hawayanos,’ and ‘Loyal Americans’: Local Boys in the First Filipino Infantry Regiment, US Army,” Social Process in Hawaii 37 (1996): 61, www.efilarchives.org/pubications (retrieved November 29, 2009).
146 “Life is so small a property”: Ibid., p. 62. The quote is from Sergeant Urbano Francisco.
147 more than seven thousand: Ibid.