Lost in Shangri-la

by Mitchell Zuckoff

  237 a place of magic: Yunggukwe Wandik, interview.

  237 McCollom’s offer of a machete: His son, Helenma Wandik, fondly remembered the machete sixty-five years later, as did his niece and nephew, Tomas and Yunggukwe Wandik.

  238 “Some people were getting mad at Wimayuk”: Helenma Wandik, interview.

  238 “They loved them”: Hastings, SLD, part 13.

  238 It remained in use: Author’s visit to a village near the site of Uwambo in February 2010. Yali and Dani villages tend to move over the years, and Uwambo was no longer a village site.

  239 “up and down and crevice to crevice”: Walter, interview by author, July 6, 2009.

  239 “I thought I was well”: Hastings, SLD, part 15.

  239 “Hats off to Sergeant Decker”: Walter, CEW, June 15, 1945.

  240 “plenty rugged”: Ibid., June 16–18, 1945.

  240 “Are they hostile?”: U.S. Army air-to-ground transcript, June 16, 1945, in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 82.

  240 “Our main trouble is water”: Ibid.

  240 “My main concern”: Walter, interview by author, July 7, 2009.

  241 “We are rolling too well”: Walter, CEW, June 16–18, 1945.

  241 “like a million dollars”: Hastings, SLD, part 15.

  241 “we instantly named ‘Bob Hope’ ”: Ibid.

  242 running up the trail: Walter, CEW, June 16–18, 1945.

  242 “the best damn field soldiers”: Ibid.

  242 jumped up and down: Far East Air Service Command Report, June 18, 1945, reprinted in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 87.

  242 sitting beside him: Ralph Morton, “Survivor Trio of Shangri-La Safe in Valley,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, June 20, 1945.

  242 “Surely the followers of Moses”: Hastings, SLD, part 16.

  22: HOLLYWOOD

  243 “there it lies today”: Hastings, SLD, part 16.

  243 “ever make a jump before?”: John McCollom, interview by Gardner, October 1997.

  244 “a rank amateur”: Hastings, SLD, part 16.

  244 “Pull your legs together!”: Ibid.

  244 “Pull on your risers!”: McCollom, interview by Gardner, October 1997.

  245 “This man is drunk!”: Walter, interview by author, July 6, 2009.

  245 “Drunker than a hoot owl”: McCollom, interview by Gardner, October 1997.

  245 “The valley is going Hollywood”: Associated Press, “Shangri-La Trio Eat Pork Chops, Await Rescue,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, June 21, 1945.

  245 Canadian House of Commons: Ernest J. Chambers, The Canadian Parliamentary Guide (Ottawa, Canada: Mortimer, 1908), p. 143.

  246 helped to launch the Federal Reserve Bank of New York: “H. V. Cann Returns to Canada,” New York Times, March 3, 1917.

  246 study structural engineering: Alexandra Cann, interview by author, August 15, 2009.

  246 gamble away his sizable inheritance: Ibid.

  246 small movie roles: resume of Alexander Cross, www.imdb.com (retrieved August 15, 2009). See also Cann, interview.

  246 drinking buddy Humphrey Bogart: Cann, interview.

  247 can’t-miss “Hey, Martha!” story: “Actor Confesses Theft of Gems at Palm Springs,” Los Angeles Times, March 28, 1937.

  248 “Nobody likes to prosecute a friend”: “Mrs. Hearst Not to Prosecute Cann in Gem Theft Case,” Los Angeles Times, March 29, 1937.

  248 “Host’s Jewels Are Stolen by Thespian”: Associated Press, “Host’s Jewels Are Stolen by Thespian,” Brownsville (Texas) Herald, March 29, 1937.

  248 a Hearst and a heist: “Ex-Wife of Hearst Jr. Robbed,” New York Times, March 28, 1937.

  248 married and divorced three times: Cann, interview.

  248 survived, but with a broken back: Playwright Keith Dewhurst, Alexander Cann’s son-in-law, interview by author, September 15, 2009.

  248 “a great deal more about filmmaking”: Cann, interview.

  248 Netherlands Indies Government Information Service: David J. Snyder, “The Netherlands Information Service Collection: An Introduction,” Historia Actual Online 3, no. 8 (2005): 201–9.

  249 “War Correspondent and Cinematographer”: Correspondence between Robert Gardner and John Daniell, son of Fred Daniell of the Dutch East Indies Film Unit, December 17, 1997.

  249 his charm and Canadian accent: Ibid.

  249 slammed full-speed into the Australia: “The First Kamikaze Attack?” Australian War Memorial, www.awm.gov.au/wartime/28/article.asp (retrieved March 2, 2010).

  249 “smoke already pouring out”: Associated Press, “Jap Plane with Dead Pilot Rips Allied Cruiser,” Los Angeles Times, November 2, 1944.

  250 flew from Melbourne to Hollandia on June 17: Alexander Cann, “Chuting Photog Pictures Life in ‘Shangri-La,’ ” Chicago Tribune, July 2, 1945.

  250 “six quarts of whisky and a party”: U.S. Army air-to-ground transcript, June 22, 1945, in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 117.

  250 “obviously dangerous”: Cann, interview.

  250 “whether I jumped or was pushed”: Cann, “Chuting Photog.”

  250 aspirin supply: Hastings, SLD, part 16.

  250 chow mein and fried potatoes: Ibid.

  250 “a full fifth of Dutch gin”: Walter, interview by author, July 6, 2009.

  250 “not until another story comes along”: U.S. Army air-to-ground transcript, June 24, 1945, in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 122.

  251 “the most magnificent survivor”: “Hidden Valley,” Pulse; Pulse was the newsletter of the USS Barnstable, which took Walter and his men to Manila. A slightly different version of this quote appears in “Modern Legend of Shangri-La,” Jungle Journal (newsletter of the Far East Air Service Command) 1, no. 4 (June 20, 1945): 3.

  251 “I . . . will give up my crown”: U.S. Army air-to-ground transcript, June 24, 1945, in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 122.

  251 became fast friends: Walter, interview by author, July 6, 2009.

  251 “experience and hard knocks”: Walter, CEW, June 21, 1945.

  251 “really learn something”: Ibid., June 23, 1945.

  251 “a swell egg”: Ibid., June 29, 1945.

  252 “thought she was a dog”: Hastings, SLD, part 16.

  252 “I wanted to cry”: Ibid.

  253 insisted that his bed go to Decker: Ibid.

  254 “laid down in agony”: Walter, CEW, June 20, 1945.

  254 re-create the last leg of the journey: Walter, CEW, June 21, 1945. See also Walter and McCollom, interview by Gardner, May 13, 1998.

  23: GLIDERS?

  255 navy construction battalion: Don Dwiggins, On Silent Wings: Adventures in Motorless Flight (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1970), p. 109.

  256 L-5 Sentinel: Devlin, Silent Wings, p. 354. See also National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=519 (retrieved March 5, 2010).

  256 consume all its fuel: Devlin, Silent Wings, p. 254.

  256 lanky country boy: Margaret Palmer Harvey, daughter of Henry Palmer, interview by author, March 12, 2010.

  256 headed for a blackboard: Devlin, Silent Wings, pp. 354–55.

  257 “no second chances”: Ibid., p. xi.

  257 a leader in glider technology: Ibid., pp. 29–36.

  258 quiet war machines: Ibid. See also David T. Zabecki, World War II in Europe, (New York: Routledge, 1999), pp. 1471–72.

  259 one thousand qualified glider pilots: Major Michael H. Manion, “Gliders of World War II: ‘The Bastards No One Wanted,’ ” master’s thesis, School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Ala., June 2008, p. 56.

  259 watched with interest: McCollom, interview, October 1997.

  259 furniture company, and a coffin maker: Manion, “Gliders of World War II,” p. 53. See also Dwiggins, On Silent Wings, p. 78.

  260 wingspan of eighty-three feet, eight inches: Waco CG-4A specs come from the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/f
actsheets/factsheet.asp?id=504 (retrieved March 7, 2010).

  260 14,000 Wacos: Turner Publishing, World War II Glider Pilots (Paducah, Ky.: Turner, 1991), p. 16.

  260 about $15,000 each: Ibid.

  260 seventeen deluxe, eight-cylinder Ford sedans: Marvin L. Arrowsmith, “OPA Set New Car Price Ceilings near 1942 Averages,” St. Petersburg Evening Independent, November 19, 1945.

  260 within two hundred yards: Turner Publishing, World War II Glider Pilots, p. 16.

  261 “suicide jockeys”: Lloyd Clark, Crossing the Rhine: Breaking into Nazi Germany, 1944 and 1945 (New York: Grove Atlantic, 2008), p. 87.

  261 a mordant toast: National World War II Glider Pilots Association Web site, www.pointvista.com/WW2GliderPilots/GliderPilotHumor.htm (retrieved March 7, 2010).

  261 “don’t go by glider!”: Walter Cronkite, foreword to John L. Lowden, Silent Wings at War: Combat Gliders in World War II (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003), p. ix.

  262 Nearly five hundred glider retrievals: Keith H. Thoms et al., “Austere Recovery of Cargo Gliders,” www.ndu.edu/inss/Press/jfq_pages/editions/i48/29.pdf (retrieved March 9, 2010).

  262 retrofitted as medevac aircraft: Leon B. Spencer, former World War II glider pilot, and Charles L. Day, “WW II U.S. Army Air Forces Glider Aerial Retrieval System,” www.silentwingsmuseum.com/images/Web%20Content/WWII%20USAAF%20Glider%20Aerial%20Retrieval%20System.pdf (retrieved October 20, 2009).

  264 scattered all over: Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 59.

  264 a pilot with United Airlines: William Samuels, Reflections of an Airline Pilot (San Francisco, Calif.: Monterey Pacific, 1999), p. 46.

  264 most experienced glider pickup pilot: Ibid., p. 72.

  264 turned over his own quarters: Ibid., p. 73.

  265 Leaking Louise: Ibid., p. 72.

  265 a three-day case of dysentery: Ibid., p. 74.

  265 Fanless Faggot: St. George, “Rescue from Shangri-La,” p. 6.

  265 “What do you think, Mac?”: Samuels, Reflections of an Airline Pilot, p. 73.

  265 one to two feet high: U.S. Army air-to-ground transcript, June 19, 1945, in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 110.

  266 toilet paper: “Reynolds Allen Clears Up Several Hidden Valley Facts Related in Prior Articles,” Silent Wings (newsletter of the National World War II Glider Pilots Association) 1, no. 4 (September 1974): 16.

  266 a huge winch: Ibid. Details on glider snatch technique and equipment also came from Spencer and Day, “Glider Aerial Retrieval System”; Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La; Lowden, Silent Wings at War; Thoms et al., “Austere Recovery of Cargo Gliders”; Devlin, Silent Wings; and Roy Gibbons, “Brake and Reel Device Used in Glider Snatch,” Chicago Tribune, July 1, 1945.

  267 within three seconds: Lowden, Silent Wings at War, p. 17. See also Leon B. Spencer and Day, “Glider Aerial Retrieval System,” p. 5.

  24: TWO QUEENS

  268 “after we get out of here”: Frank Kelley, “Weather Delays Rescue of Shangri-La Shutins,” New York Tribune, June 23, 1945, in Walter’s scrapbook.

  269 five cowrie shells: Hastings, SLD, part 16.

  269 sixty-two arrows and three bows: Walter, CEW, June 23, 1945.

  269 four shells: Kelley, “Weather Delays Rescue.”

  269 pigpen . . . collapsed: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

  269 ruining the local economy: Ibid.

  270 At a funeral: Heider, Grand Valley Dani, pp. 132–33.

  270 “don’t take the shells”: Lisaniak Mabel, interview.

  270 “be careful”: Walter, interview by author, July 6, 2009.

  270 “quite a money monger”: Walter, CEW, June 30, 1945.

  271 Gerlagam Logo: Narekesok Logo and Dagadigik Walela, interviews by author, February 3, 2010.

  271 “eggs that landed unscrambled”: St. George, “Rescue from Shangri-La,” p. 6.

  271 “believers in mankind”: U.S. Army air-to-ground transcript, June 21, 1945, in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 117.

  272 “Natives not very fast”: Walter, CEW, June 24, 1945.

  272 “shot through the heart”: Hastings, SLD, part 17.

  272 found the skeleton: Walter, CEW, June 27, 1945.

  273 “a dying race”: Walter, CEW, June 22, 1945.

  273 “You could see where the cuts were”: Narekesok Logo, interview. The story of the pig was confirmed in interviews with Dagadigik Walela on the same day, and with Ai Baga and Lisaniak Mabel on February 2, 2010.

  273 “smeared their heads with mosquito repellant”: Simmons, “Glider Takes Six More.”

  273 infection on her breast: U.S. Army air-to-ground transcript, June 21, 1945, in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 114.

  273 “a wonderfully carefree people”: Simmons, “Glider Takes Six More.”

  274 “the captain forbade it”: Hastings, SLD, part 17.

  274 “a man of dignity and authority”: Ibid., part 16.

  275 “a word of the other’s language”: Ibid., part 17.

  276 “a royal guest”: Ibid.

  276 “the rest of us”: U.S. Army air-to-ground transcript, June 21, 1945, in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 114.

  276 “a wise people”: Hastings, SLD, part 17.

  276 an ornate necklace: Walter, CEW, June 20 and 21, 1945.

  277 a chief with ten wives: Interview with Dagadigik Walela, February 3, 2010.

  278 severed the nylon tow rope: Samuels, Reflections of an Airline Pilot, p. 74. See also Hastings, SLD, part 18.

  278 compass mast was knocked off: St. George, “Rescue from Shangri-La,” p. 6.

  278 the steel cable: Devlin, Silent Wings, p. 357.

  278 “The winch just blew up”: Walter Simmons, “Glider Rescue Test Again Fails,” Chicago Tribune, June 26, 1945.

  278 Winston Howell: A dispute exists over the first name and rank of the winch operator. Some accounts call him Private James Howell. However, stories by Sergeant Ozzie St. George of Yank and Walter Simmons of the Chicago Tribune, both of whom covered the mission, identify him as “Master Sergeant Winston Howell.” In his memoir, Reflections of an Airline Pilot, William J. Samuels identifies him as “Frank” Howell.

  278 certain they’d have no trouble: Ralph Morton, “Survivor Trio of Shangri-La Safe in Valley,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, June 20, 1945.

  278 “A shower of aluminum”: Samuels, Reflections of an Airline Pilot, p. 74.

  279 “badly rusted”: “Reynolds Allen,” Silent Wings, p. 16.

  279 cancel the glider snatch: Simmons, “Glider Rescue Test.”

  279 inviting the Seabees: Associated Press, “Five More Rescued At Shangri-La,” Miami News, June 30, 1945.

  279 “any haphazard attempt”: U.S. Army air-to-ground transcript, June 19, 1945, in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 111.

  279 “possibility of a bad accident”: Ibid.

  279 “if the glider pickup didn’t work”: Walter, interview by Izon.

  280 “I said my Rosary”: Hastings, SLD, part 18.

  280 asked a chaplain to pray: Ibid. See also Samuels, Reflections of an Airline Pilot, p. 74.

  281 “might have been dead”: Hastings, SLD, part 17.

  282 “one of us handsome guys”: Ibid.

  282 their name for Margaret was Nuarauke: Ai Baga, interview.

  282 “ ‘Sleep with this woman’ ”: Interview with Hugiampot, February 2, 2010.

  283 Caoili was called Kelabi: Ibid. The names were confirmed by others in the valley, including Lisaniak Mabel, Narekesok Logo, and Dagadigik Walela.

  283 “appreciate our help”: Walter, CEW, June 19, 1945.

  283 “our first uneasy night”: Ibid., dated June 22, 1945.

  284 on his own terms: Ai Baga, Lisaniak Mabel, and Hugiampot, interviews.

  284 “the enemies talked”: Ai Baga, interview.

  25: SNATCH

  285 overload the glider: U.S. Army air-to-ground transcript, June 22, 1945, in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 116. See al
so Walter Simmons, “Clouds Defeat Hidden Valley Rescue Effort,” Chicago Tribune, June 29, 1945, p. 2

  285 sat in the glider’s copilot seat: Simmons, “Clouds Defeat.” See also Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 72.

  285 reflected confidence: Pilot William J. Samuels was certain Elsmore’s act was a mark of confidence in the C-47 crew. See Samuels, Reflections of an Airline Pilot, p. 74.

  285 awoke at 6:00 a.m.: U.S. Army air-to-ground transcript, June 28, 1945, in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 139.

  286 “puffs of cigar smoke”: Walter Simmons, “Glider Saves Yanks Marooned in Shangri-La Valley,” Chicago Tribune, June 30, 1945.

  286 “Does the queen”: U.S. Army air-to-ground transcript, June 28, 1945, in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 139.

  286 a B-25 bomber: Don Caswell, “It’s Not Exactly Shangri-La,” United Press story datelined July 1, 1945, in Walter’s scrapbook.

  286 “my prayers on the future”: Walter, CEW, June 13, 1945.

  287 “I will not be on the first glider”: U.S. Army air-to-ground transcript, June 28, 1945, in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 139.

  288 glider’s tail rose: Alexander Cann’s film Rescue from Shangri-La, copy provided by Robert Gardner.

  288 “jumping up and down”: Hastings, SLD, part 18.

  288 whooping and hollering: Transcript of June 29, 1945, press conference, reprinted in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 189.

  288 “gas or time”: U.S. Army air-to-ground transcript, June 28, 1945, in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 141.

  289 lighten the load: Report of Major William Samuels, reprinted in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 143.

  289 “a damn good day”: Ibid.

  289 “better not try a dry run”: Ibid., p. 142.

  289 “ready to go?”: Hastings, SLD, part 18.

  290 “they understood that we were going”: Hastings, SLD, part 18.

  291 “We had a crying ceremony”: Transcript of interview with Binalok conducted by Buzz Maxey, 1997, no month given. Binalok had since died when the author visited the Baliem Valley, but his explanations were confirmed during discussions with other witnesses quoted throughout the book.

  291 a more traditional style: Ibid. A man named Lolkwa joined Binalok during this part of the discussion.

  291 “insured for ten thousand dollars”: Hastings, SLD, part 18.