Lost in Shangri-la

NOTES

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1. MISSING

1 On a rainy day: National Severe Storms Laboratory Historical Weather Data Archives, Norman, Oklahoma, http://data.nssl.noaa.gov (retrieved October 17, 2009).

1 a green, farm-style house: Description comes from author’s interviews with Margaret Hastings’s sister Rita Hastings Callahan, August 1, 2009, and childhood friend Mary Scanlon, August 2, 2009, and also from the author’s visits to Owego, N.Y.

1 in a front window: Callahan, interview.

1 grew up a farm boy: Ibid.

2 visible signs of her absence: Ibid.

2 walked into a recruiting station: Margaret Hastings’s enlistment records at NARA.

3 the combat death toll: U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs Fact Sheet, dated November 2008, www1.va.gov/opa/fact/amwars.asp (retrieved January 27, 2010).

3 messengers fanned out across the country: Hometowns of crash victims’ families were contained in the declassified Army Air Force account of the crash, MACR.

3 THE SECRETARY OF WAR DESIRES: Telegram located in archives at TCHS. The original had no punctuation, which was added here for readability, and abbreviated the word corporal.

3 most recent letter home: “Owego WAC, Reported Missing, Is Safe,” news clipping in Margaret Hastings’s personal scrapbook, TCHS. Story described Margaret Hastings’s most recent letter and her family’s hope that she would be found alive.

4 Margaret is missing: Callahan, interview.

2. HOLLANDIA

5 “fit me like sacks”: Margaret Hastings to Verna Smith, published as “Owego WAC Writes of Her Life in New Guinea,” Owego Gazette, March 8, 1945.

6 usual 5:30 a.m. reveille: Details of Margaret Hastings’s daily routine in New Guinea are contained in SLD, part 2. See also Hastings, “Owego WAC Writes.”

6 just under five-foot-two: Margaret Hastings, SLD, part 11. Margaret notes her height in comparison with the native women, pleasantly surprised that they are shorter than her “five-feet, one-and-one-half inches.”

6 teenage nickname: Owego Free Academy Tom-Tom Yearbook, 1932, p. 18, TCHS.

6 hitchhiked when she wanted: Scanlon, interview.

6 “drank liquor,” “liked the boys”: Margaret Hastings, “A Tribute to Mother,” undated college paper in correspondence file, TCHS.

6 average marrying age for women: U.S. Census Bureau, “America’s Family and Living Arrangements,” in Current Population Survey: Annual Social and Economic Supplement, 2003, table MS-2, “Estimated Median Age at First Marriage, by Sex, 1890–Present,” Current Population Report ser. P20-553 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2003).

7 “To tell the truth”: James R. Miller, “Reconversion of a Heroine,” Los Angeles Times Magazine, July 7, 1946, p. 5.

7 more exciting than Atlantic City: Hastings, SLD, part 1.

7 “blood, toil, tears and sweat”: John Lukacs, Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat: The Dire Warning; Churchill’s First Speech as Prime Minister (New York: Basic Books, 2008), p. 11.

7 “The western world has been freed”: Harry S. Truman, transcript of speech announcing the surrender of Germany, found at Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia, http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3340 (retrieved January 3, 2010).

8 House Speaker Sam Rayburn: C. P. Trussell, “Blackout Lifted on Capitol Dome,” New York Times, May 9, 1945.

8 “It will be a busy summer”: Hanson W. Baldwin, “A New Phase Now Opens in the Pacific War,” New York Times, May 13, 1945.

8 Between sunrise and sunset: Day-by-day chronology of World War II Pacific history, compiled by U.S. Air Forces and provided by Justin Taylan of PacificWrecks.org, http://www.pacificwrecks.com/60th/1945/5-45.html (retrieved October 11, 2009). See also chronology at http://www.onwar.com/chrono/index.htm (retrieved October 11, 2009).

10 named it for an African country: Karl Heider, Grand Valley Dani: Peaceful Warriors, 3d ed. (Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Group, 1997), p. 1.

10 Sri Lankan potentates: Tim Flannery, Throwim Way Leg: Tree-Kangaroos, Possums and Penis Gourds (New York: Grove Press, 1998), 3.

10 Captain Cook visited in 1770: Hobart M. Van Deusen, “The Seventh Archbold Expedition,” BioScience 16 (July 1966): 450.

11 a daring strike called “Operation Reckless”: Samuel Eliot Morison, History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, vol. 8, New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944 (Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2002), pp. 68–90. See also Stanley Sandler, World War II in the Pacific: An Encyclopedia (New York: Garland, 2001), pp. 400–403.

11 “Release a Man for Combat”: Ibid., p. 184.

11 “my best soldiers”: Sandler, World War II in the Pacific, p. 1050.

12 a sidearm to keep under her pillow: Dona Cruse, interview by author, August 11, 2009. Dona is the daughter of WAC Ruth Coster, who passed up a chance to fly over Shangri-La on May 13, 1945. See also Steven Mayer, “Taft Veteran Killed in Crash Only Woman Listed on Wall,” Bakersfield Californian, Nov. 12, 2007, www.bakersfield.com/102/story/283703.html, included in the Ruth Coster Collection at the University of Central Arkansas.

12 “Hey Joe—hubba, hubba”: Colonel Ray T. Elsmore, “New Guinea’s Mountain and Swampland Dwellers,” National Geographic Magazine 88, no. 6 (December 1945): 676.

12 the safety precautions’ real aim: Judith A. Bellafaire, The Women’s Army Corps: A Commemoration of World War II Service, U.S. Army Center of Military History pub. 72-15 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1990). See also p. 422 in the definitive history of the WACs, Mattie E. Treadwell, The Women’s Army Corps (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1954); and Selene H. C. Weise, The Good Soldier: The Story of a Southwest Pacific Signal Corps WAC (Shippensburg, Pa.: Burd Street Press, 1999).

12 “blanket parties”: Margaret Hastings to Kitty Dugan, February 2, 1945, archives, TCHS.

13 The letter didn’t give away: A notation on the envelope indicates that the letter was “censored by Lt. Margaret V. Bogle,” the same officer who informed Margaret Hastings about the trip to Shangri-La.

13 enlisting . . . in August 1942: Background information on Laura Besley from U.S. World War II army enlistment records at www.ancestry.com (retrieved September 11, 2009), and Harrisburg, Pa., City Directory (Detroit: R. L. Polk, 1936–37), p. 62. See also 1930 U.S. federal census records.

13 a “sassy” young woman: Gerta Anderson, interview by author, April 26, 2010. Laura Besley’s mother and Gerta Anderson’s maternal grandmother were sisters. Laura was named Earline, after her father, Earl, but took the name Laura from her grandmother.

13 tables made from boxes and burlap: Hastings, “Owego WAC Writes.”

14 parachute cloth hung as decoration: Hastings to Dugan, February 2, 1945. Details of WAC tents in Hollandia also from Mary L. Eck, Saga of a Sad Sack, self-published pamphlet recounting military life in New Guinea and elsewhere, 1979.

14 double electric socket: Hastings, SLD, part 2.

14 “Get skinny in Guinea”: Ibid., p. 16.

15 showered at least twice a day: Hastings, “Owego WAC Writes.”

15 “in order to keep respectable”: Ibid.

15 “There was ‘jungle rot’ ”: Lieutenant Colonel Anne O’Sullivan (retired), “Recollections of New Guinea,” Women’s Army Corps Journal 5, no. 5 (October–December 1974): 14.

15 almost enough to make her feel cool: Hastings, SLD, part 2.

16 the health of military women: Treadwell, Women’s Army Corps, p. 446.

16 several hundred WACs: Ibid., p. 427.

16 a letter to his family: All quotes from Colonel Peter J. Prossen come from his letters to his wife on May 12 and 13, 1945, copies of which were provided by his son, Peter J. Prossen Jr.

16 his elder son . . . knew him: Peter J. Prossen Jr., interview by author, July 28, 2009.

18 hundred or so men and the twenty-plus WACs: John McCollom, unaired interview with filmmaker Robert Gardner, Dayton, Ohio, October 1997.

18 Coca-Cola syrup and fresh fruit: Eck, Saga of a Sad Sack, p. 29.

18 sightseeing flights up the coastline: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

3. SHANGRI-LA

19 a more direct, low-altitude pass: Elsmore, “Mountain and Swampland Dwellers,” p. 671. See also John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

19 “Colonel, if we slip”: Elsmore, “Mountain and Swampland Dwellers,” p. 671.

19 late for a hot date in Australia: C. Earl Walter Jr., interview by Patrick O’Donnell, 1988, http://www.thedropzone.org/pacific/walters.htm (retrieved October 10, 2009).

20 a mostly flat, verdant valley: Major Myron J. Grimes (retired), interview by author, August 31, 2009.

20 stamped the area “unknown” or “unexplored”: Ozzie St. George, “Rescue from Shangri-La,” Yank: The Army Weekly, August 17, 1945, p. 6. See also Gordon L. Rottman, World War II Pacific Island Guide: A Geo-Military Study (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2001), p. 148.

20 “estimated 14,000-foot peak”: St. George, “Rescue from Shangri-La,” p. 6.

20 a mountain might be hiding inside: Elsmore, “Mountain and Swampland Dwellers,” p. 671. (At one point Elsmore writes of a cloud bank, “We could see the occasional rift, but we knew that peaks lurked in its innocent white walls.”)

20 a flying instructor during World War I: “Ray Elsmore, 66, Helped M’Arthur,” New York Times, February 19, 1957, p. 31.

20 deputy county prosecutor: William H. Carleton, “History of the Directorate of Air Transport, Allied Air Force South West Pacific Area and the 322 Troop Carrier Wing,” at http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/usaaf/dat.htm (retrieved September 1, 2009).

21 MacArthur’s evacuation flight: “Ray Elsmore, 66,” p. 31.

21 the Southwest Pacific: Rottman, Pacific Island Guide, pp. 146–52.

21 prepared to veer up and away: Grimes, interview.

21 “Push on through”: Elsmore, “Mountain and Swampland Dwellers,” p. 673.

22 “a riot of dazzling color”: Ibid., p. 674.

22 “Crops were in full growth”: Elsmore, “Mountain and Swampland Dwellers,” p. 674.

22 “diving into the drainage ditches”: Ibid.

23 “one of the most impressive sights”: Ibid., p. 676.

24 “a pilot unfamiliar with this canyon.”: Colonel Ray T. Elsmore to General George C. Kenney, secret letter (since unclassified) titled “Route Survey,” May 29, 1944, MacArthur Memorial Archives, Norfolk, Va.

24 “anxious to avoid incidents and bloodshed”: Elsmore, “Mountain and Swampland Dwellers,” p. 677.

25 “pygmy type”: Ibid., p. 689.

25 models of sinewy manhood standing seven feet tall: “The Hidden Valley,” Pulse: A 27 General Hospital Publication, Vol. 3, No. 46, July 8, 1945, Supplement, p. 1. The publication was a hospital bulletin saved by Capt. Earl Walter. Also, Eck, Saga of a Sad Sack.

25 the size of ponies: Lieutenant William Jeff Gatling Jr. to his family, published as “Shangri-La,” Arkansas Gazette, May 20, 1945, n.p.; in the Ruth Coster Collection at the University of Central Arkansas.

25 “Dorothy Lamours in blackface”: Hastings, SLD, part 2.

26 ever set foot in the valley: Elsmore, “Mountain and Swampland Dwellers,” p. 677.

26 “I suppose I would have regretted it”: Gatling, “Shangri-La.”

27 suspending their battle: St. George, “Rescue from Shangri-La,” p. 6. Also, Colonel Edward T. Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La (Paducah, Ky.: Turner, 1997), p. 8.

27 His father: “George Lait Weds; War Correspondent Takes Jane Peck Harrington as Bride,” New York Times, September 8, 1945. See also “Jack Lait, 71, Dies; Editor of Mirror,” New York Times, April 2, 1954; and “The Press: Blue Bloomers and Burning Bodies,” Time, July 26, 1948.

27 correspondent for the International News Service: Ibid.

27 knocked out cold: International News Service, “Newsman Kayoed in London Raid,” St. Petersburg Times, April 20, 1941.

27 blown out of a car seat: Ernie Pyle, “Rambling Reporter,” Pittsburgh Press, March 27, 1941.

27 “As a war correspondent”: Inez Robb, “Robb’s Corner,” Reading (Pa.) Eagle, January 29, 1958. It’s fitting that Robb wrote this tribute to George Lait, who helped to name the valley Shangri-La. When Margaret Hastings turned her diary into an eighteen-part newspaper series in 1945, Robb was brought on as a professional writer to help.

28 a dispatch rich in description: Donald Collier, “U.S. Fliers in New Guinea Discover a Shangri-La,” Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin, nos. 3–4 (March–April 1945), quoting a story by George Lait “published in a New Guinea news sheet of the Army,” www.archive.org/stream/bulletin16chic/bulletin16chic_djvu.txt (retrieved August 30, 2009).

28 Patterson’s story: Harry E. Patterson, “Real Shangri-La in New Guinea,” Milwaukee Journal, March 11, 1945.

29 disappointed by the name Hidden Valley: Elsmore, “Mountain and Swampland Dwellers,” p. 680.

29 “matched a whole army”: James Hilton, Lost Horizon (New York: Pocket Books, 1933), p. 157.

29 “He foresaw a time”: Hilton, Lost Horizon, p. 158.

30 a 1937 speech: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Quarantine the Aggressors Speech,” delivered in Chicago on October 5, 1937. Roosevelt paraphrased slightly, changing the tense from “would” to “will.” The result was to make the prediction even more ominous. Text located at http://fletcher.tufts.edu/multi/texts/historical/quarantine.txt (retrieved September 1, 2009).

4. GREMLIN SPECIAL

31 comically ornate certificate: Membership in the “Shangri-La Society” was extended to survivors of the May 13, 1945, crash and their rescuers. Margaret Hastings’s certificate can be found at TCHS; those of John McCollom and C. Earl Walter, in their personal scrapbooks. Ken Decker’s could not be located.

31 “leading authority on the valley”: Walter Simmons, “Glider Takes Six More Out of Shangri-La,” Chicago Tribune, July 1, 1945.

31 “a case of ‘head you lose’ ”: Ray Zeman, “Pilot Finds Shangri-La,” Los Angeles Times, October 16, 1944.

32 “fully equipped with bargaining trinkets”: Harold Streeter, “Pacific Reporter: Shangri-La,” Hartford Courant, May 13, 1945.

32 “navigational training”: MACR, p. 1.

32 Prossen’s first trip to Shangri-La: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

32 a date after work: Hastings, SLD, part 1. In her published diary, Margaret says she had been informed of the flight a day earlier by Colonel Prossen, but in her sworn statement after the crash, dated June 29, 1945, MACR, she said she was invited that morning.

32 desperate to visit Shangri-La: Hastings, SLD, part 2.

32 she leaped at Prossen’s offer: Prossen issued the invitation through the chain of command, so it was delivered by Lieutenant Margaret V. Bogle, according to Hastings’s sworn statement, MACR.

32 prizes at local dog shows: Hastings, SLD, part 2.

33 savoring each cold spoonful: Ibid.

34 leather and hydraulic fluid: Details of the C-47 from www.boeing.com/history/mdc/skytrain.htm (retrieved September 5, 2009). See also www.warbirdalley.com/c47.htm.

34 at a cost to the military of $269,276: Copy of Aircraft Record Card #41-23952, from U.S. Air Force Historical Division, Research Studies Institute, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Ala.

34 Gremlin Special: The MACR lists “Merle” as the nickname, but “Gremlin Special” is cited in an account of the crash in Michael John Clarinbould, The Forgotten Fifth: A Photographic Chronology of the U.S. Fifth Air Force in World War II (Hyde Park, N.Y.: Balus Design, 2007), pp. 103–4.

34 The Gremlins: Roald Dahl, The Gremlins (1943; reprint, Milwaukie, Ore.: Dark Horse, 2006).

34 “Let the girls in first”: Hastings, SLD, part 2.

35 “showing partiality”: Ibid.

35 caught Laura’s eye and winked: Hastings, SLD, part 2.

35 spent time in a German prisoner-of-war camp: Background information on Eleanor Hanna from her sister, Roberta (Hanna) Koons, interview by author, September 11, 2009.

35 singing wherever she went: Hastings, SLD, parts 2 and 4.

35 “Isn’t this fun!”: Ibid., part 2.

36 bracelet made from Chinese coins: Eleanor Hanna’s U.S. Army individual deceased personnel file (IDPF) contains a Xerox image of part of the bracelet, which was found in the grave she shared with Laura Besley. At first it wasn’t clear to whom it belonged, but a May 14, 1959, letter in the file from her father to the army quartermaster general makes a claim on the bracelet and refers to the two others she owned just like it.

36 daughter of a newspaper publisher: “Pfc. Gillis from East Orange,” New York Times, June 9, 1945. Although the Times said she was from New Jersey, MACR lists her hometown as Los Angeles.

36 fleeing from Spain with her mother: Ibid.

36 grieving the death of her fiancé: Associated Press, “Airfield Is Built to Rescue a Wac and 2 Men in New Guinea,” New York Times, June 9, 1945.

36 relieve her loneliness: Information about WACs Helen Kent and Ruth Coster from Dona Cruse, interviews by author, August 11, 2009, and September 4, 2009. Dona is the daughter of Ruth, who died in 2005.

36 tell her what it was like: Ibid.

36 Three more WACs: World War II enlistment records, www.ancestry.com (retrieved November 1–3, 2009).

37 trailed by his copilot: Background on George H. Nicholson from MACR. Also, 1920 and 1930 U.S. Federal Census at www.ancestry.com (retrieved September 11, 2009). Also, interviews by author with Maryrose Condon, a first cousin of Major Nicholson, and John and Michael McCarthy, first cousins once removed, on September 13, 2009.

37 graduated from Boston College, then received master’s degrees: Interviews with Maryrose Condon and John McCarthy, September 13, 2009. See also “Major Geo H. Nicholson Killed in Plane Crash,” Malden (Mass.) Evening News, May 31, 1945, p. 1; and “Maj. George H. Nicholson, Killed in Pacific Plane Crash,” undated newspaper clipping saved by Nicholson’s family.

37 served under Lord Mountbatten: “Major Geo H. Nicholson Killed,” Malden Evening News.

37 skipped a “Victory in Europe” party: Alice K. Nicholson Cadley to friends and family, “Mother’s Day 1995,” in which she marked the fiftieth anniversary of the crash by distributing copies of Nicholson’s letter.

37 a vivid fifteen-page narrative: George H. Nicholson to his wife, Alice K. Nicholson (later Cadley), May 9, 1945, provided by his cousin Maryrose Condon.

39 three other crew members: Crew list, MACR, p. 3.

39 a month earlier: “Melvin Mollberg Killed In Plane Crash in the Pacific,” undated newspaper clipping provided by Melvyn Lutgring.

39 Corporal James “Jimmy” Lutgring: Melvyn Lutgring, interview by author, January 5, 2010. Lutgring was named for Melvin Mollberg, despite the different spelling of their first names.

40 asked her on a date: Hastings, SLD, part 2.

40 an oil salesman and a leader in his Presbyterian church: “Daytonian, Two Valley Men Reported Killed in Action,” Dayton Journal, May 30, 1945, p. 2. See also Williams’ Dayton (Montgomery County, Ohio) City Directory 1944 (Cincinnati: Williams Directory, 1944), p. 484.

41 “The Inseparables”: Betty McCollom, widow of John McCollom, interview by author, August 1, 2009. See also information about John and Robert McCollom from Marjorie Lundberg, “Baby Girl’s Father Killed, but Uncle Is Dad’s Replica,” St. Paul Dispatch, June 8, 1945, n.p., from John McCollom’s personal scrapbook.

41 Eagle Scouts together: John S. McCollom’s obituary, Dayton Daily News, August 21, 2001, provided by Betty McCollom.

42 a wedding photo: “Tragic Shangri-La Figures and Kin,” St. Paul Dispatch, undated story and photographs in McCollom’s scrapbook.

43 “Mind if I share this window”: Hastings, SLD, part 2. McCollom’s location is confirmed in his sworn statement, dated June 29, 1945, MACR.

5. EUREKA!

44 twisted in their seats for a look: Hastings, SLD, part 3.

44 “Oh, what is so rare”: Ibid.

44 The Vision of Sir Launfal: The famous line from Lowell’s 1848 poem is, “And what is so rare as a day in June?”

45 as soft as green feathers: Hastings, SLD, part 3.

45 a heading of 224 degrees: McCollom, sworn statement, MACR, p. 1.

46 standing in the narrow radio compartment: Ibid.

46 alone at the controls: Ibid.

46 an altitude of about one thousand feet: Ibid.

46 four hundred feet: Hastings, SLD, part 3.

46 “Eureka!”: Ibid.

47 “I want to come again!”: Ibid.

47 “Give her the gun and let’s get out of here”: Ibid.

47 thought he was joking: Ibid. Margaret wrote, “I thought he was joking. So did everyone else.”

47 applying full power to climb: McCollom, sworn statement, MACR, p. 1.

48 learned to fly only three years earlier: “Maj. George H. Nicholson Killed In Pacific Plane Crash,” undated newspaper clipping saved by Nicholson’s family.

48 Turbulent air was common: MACR does not make an official determination whether the cause of the crash was pilot error, a sudden downdraft, or a combination of factors.

48 especially treacherous: Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 170. Imparato knew the terrain from flying over it.

49 “a sudden down-draft of air current”: Historical Data Regarding the Loss of a FEASC C-47 and the Rescue of Survivors of the Crash, declassified document prepared by the U.S. Air Force Historical Division, Research Studies Institute, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Ala., November 17, 1952.

49 “flat on the deck”: Hastings, SLD, part 3.

49 “This is going to be darn close”: McCollom, sworn statement, MACR, p. 1.

50 The cabin crumpled forward: This account of the crash is taken from the sworn MACR statements of John McCollom and Margaret Hastings, as well as photographs of the wreckage provided to the author by Eugene M. Hoops. At the end of World War II, Hoops was part of an American military unit sent from the Philippines to New Guinea to clean up the base at Hollandia and to destroy remaining files. Upon opening a metal file drawer, he discovered a set of photographs from the May 13, 1945, crash and its aftermath. Despite orders to destroy the material, Hoops believed the photos might be significant and decided to preserve them for posterity.

50 turning somersaults as he fell: McCollom, sworn statement, MACR, p. 1.

50 momentarily blacked out: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

50 flattened down like a stepped-on tin can: Ibid.

51 “all by myself on a Sunday afternoon”: Ibid.

51 spoiled by a plane crash: Hastings, SLD, part 3. She writes that she was “indignant because this thing had happened to me!”

51 thick arms around her: Ibid.

52 “My God! Hastings!”: Ibid.

52 McCollom doubted it would explode: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

52 “Give me your hand!”: Hastings, SLD, part 3.

52 Her hair still crackled with burning embers: McCollom, sworn statement, MACR, p. 2.

53 a bloody . . . gash on the right side of Decker’s forehead: Decker details his injuries in his sworn statement, MACR, p. 2. See also Hastings, SLD, part 4; McCollom, sworn statement, MACR, p. 2.

53 “My God, Decker, where did you come from?”: Hastings, SLD, part 4.

53 his deliverance into the jungle: Decker, sworn statement, MACR, p. 1.

53 catapulted through the cockpit and out through the windshield: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

53 “Helluva way to spend your birthday”: Ibid.

53 “Hastings, can’t you do something for these girls?”: Hastings, SLD, part 4.

54 seared off all her clothes: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

54 “Let’s sing”: Hastings, SLD, part 4.

54 only superficial burns: Ibid.

54 McCollom invited him to join in the fun: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

54 tangled in the roots of a tree: McCollom, sworn statement, MACR, p. 2.

55 They left Good’s body where it fell: Photograph of the wreckage, courtesy of Eugene M. Hoops.

56 wedding ring with a white inlay: Lt. Col. Donald Wardle, chief of the Army Disposition Branch, Memorial Division, to Mrs. Cecelia A. McCollom, May 13, 1959. See also letter from Lt. Col. Donald L. Wardle to Louis Landau, father of Private Mary Landau, May 1, 1959, about the recovery of remains and personal items from the crash site. Contained in Mary Landau’s IDPF, provided by the U.S. Army under a Freedom of Information Act request.

6: CHARMS

58 “surrounded by fire if we don’t”: Hastings, SLD, part 4.

58 “You’re all right”: Ibid.

59 “Everything in the jungle had tentacles”: Ibid., part 6.

60 pulled off her khaki shirt: Ibid., part 4.

60 arms draped over his shoulders: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

60 still dangled from her wrist: Eleanor Hanna’s IDPF notes that the bracelet was found in the grave she shared with Laura Besley, which means it remained in her possession after the crash. She had no clothes, and therefore no pockets, so it stands to reason the bracelet remained on her wrist.

60 a broken rib: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

61 help McCollom with Eleanor Hanna: Ibid.; see also sworn statements in MACR of Decker, p. 1, and McCollom, p. 2.

61 compounding their misery: Hastings, SLD, part 4. She writes: “Now the daily and eternal rain of New Guinea began to fall. Soaked clothing was added to our miseries.”

61 .45-caliber pistol: McCollom, sworn statement, MACR, p. 2.

61 Cracker Jack–size boxes of K-rations: Jerold E. Brown, Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Army (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2001), p. 270.

61 burn until the middle of the next day: McCollom, sworn statement, MACR, p. 3.

62 no one would have survived: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

62 couldn’t find any flares: The survivors gave separate accounts of the contents of the life rafts. Margaret Hastings, in SLD, part 4, said the kit contained flares, but in his sworn statement, MACR, John McCollom states: “I looked all over the life raft equipment, but I never could find any flares.” He later writes about trying to use Margaret’s mirror to signal planes, adding veracity to his account.

63 “Let’s sing”: Hastings, SLD, part 4.

63 the plane was still aflame: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

63 might be lightning: Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 184.

63 hike all 150-plus miles: Sergeant Ozzie St. George, “Hidden Valley,” Yank: The Army Weekly, Far East ed., Aug. 10, 1945.

63 yaps and barks of wild dogs: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

63 “Eleanor’s dead”: Margaret Hastings describes finding Eleanor Hanna dead in SLD, part 4, while in his sworn statement, MACR, John McCollom says only, “I guess that Private Hanna died about 8 o’clock that night,” referring to the previous night.

64 “I can’t stop shaking”: Hastings, SLD, part 5.

64 seventeen cans of water: Ibid. McCollom’s MACR statement mentions the cots, but the more complete inventory is in Margaret’s diary.

64 black electrical tape and a pair of pliers: Decker, sworn statement, MACR, p. 1.

64 burned feet covered by cotton bandages: Hastings, SLD, part 5.

65 a five-pointed white star: Photos of the downed C-47, taken shortly after the crash, provided by Dona Cruse.

65 impossible to see except from a short distance: Photograph of the wreckage, courtesy of Eugene M. Hoops.

65 between the plane and ground controllers: MACR, p. 1.

66 worked it furiously to flash snatches of sunlight: McCollom, sworn statement, MACR, p. 3. See also Hastings, SLD, part 5, and John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

66 “Don’t worry”: John McCollom, unaired interview with Robert Gardner, Seattle, May 13, 1998.

66 at peace with her mother’s death: Hastings, SLD, part 5.

66 Margaret’s middle name: Callahan, interview.

66 In a school essay: Hastings, “Tribute to Mother,” TCHS.

67 hugging tightly to keep from falling off: Hastings, SLD, part 5.

67 “Everyone else is dead and we’re very lonely, aren’t we?”: Ibid.

67 “Laura has died!”: Hastings, SLD, part 5.

67 “Don’t be a dope, Hastings”: Ibid.

68 “ ‘Now the shoes belong to me’ ”: Ibid.

69 hated the nickname: Hastings, SLD, part 15.

70 lit a cigarette and handed it to her: Ibid., part 5.

70 “No night will ever again be as long”: Ibid.

7: TARZAN

71 McCollom climbed a tree: In his MACR statement, p. 3, McCollom says he saw the clearing from the tail of the plane. But in his October 1997 interview with Robert Gardner, McCollom explained that he had to climb a tree to see the clearing.

71 a course they could follow: McCollom, sworn statement, MACR, p. 3. See also John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

71 an officer wrote back: Susan Sheehan, A Missing Plane: The Dramatic Tragedy and Triumph of a Lost and Forgotten World War II Bomber (New York: Berkeley Books, 1986), p. 210.

72 More than six hundred American planes: Justin Taylan, interview by author, October 2, 2009. Taylan is an authority on World War II plane crashes and director of Pacific Wrecks Web site.

72 more missing airplanes than any country on earth: Sheehan, Missing Plane, p. 9. Sheehan focused her work on the eastern half of the island, but in the estimation of Taylan, this was true for all of New Guinea.

72 Flying Dutchman: This account of the November 10, 1942, crash and cargo door diary is based on Clarinbould, Forgotten Fifth, p. 39. See also “Agony of the Flying Dutchman,” at www.aerothentic.com/historical/Unusual_Stories/C47FlyingDutchman.htm (retrieved August 23 and September 14, 2009), and “C-47A Flying Dutchman,” at www.pacificwrecks.com (retrieved August 23, 2009).

73 “so light that he ‘felt like a baby’ ”: “Agony of the Flying Dutchman.”

74 two tins of water and a few cellophane-wrapped Charms: Hastings, SLD, part 5. Margaret Hastings’s account is the primary source of the trio of survivors’ journey through the jungle to the clearing. McCollom corroborated significant parts and added important details in his October 1997 interview with Robert Gardner, and also in newspaper interviews he gave over the years.

75 Later, writing in her diary: Ibid.

76 “Let’s go”: Ibid.

76 crawling on their hands and knees: Jack Jones, “Survivor Recalls Crash, 47 Days in Wild Jungle,” Dayton Daily Camera, June 10, 1959.

76 “three-inch ‘feather’ bob”: Hastings, SLD, part 5.

76 never complained: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

77 “It is foolish to think that we could have cut our way out”: Hastings, SLD, part 6.

77 intended to fill their stomachs: Ibid.

78 returned with a new idea: Ibid.

78 “understudy Johnny Weissmuller”: Ibid.

78 point of pride with her: Ibid.

79 “the old mother hen instinct”: Remarks of Colonel Jerry Felmley at John McCollom’s retirement dinner, September 23, 1980, Wright Patterson Air Force Base Officers’ Club. Felmley interviewed Decker for the occasion.

79 a fresh human footprint: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

79 strange barking sounds: St. George, “Rescue from Shangri-La,” p. 6.

8: GENTLEMAN EXPLORER

80 never much of a traditional student: (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2000), p. 2.

80 brusque manner: Roger A. Morse, Richard Archbold and the Archbold Biological Station Ibid., p. 61.

81 “Why don’t you collect mammals?”: Ibid., p. 4.

81 learned from his many mistakes: Ibid., p. 4. Archbold’s autobiographical notes indicate that, in Morse’s words, he “botched the job.”

81 his grandfather had been a major benefactor: Ibid., p. 9.

81 put his inheritance to work: Ibid., pp. 11–14.

82 “a comprehensive biological survey of the island”: Richard Archbold, A. L. Rand, and L. J. Brass, “Results of the Archbold Expeditions, No. 41,” Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 79, art. 3 (June 26, 1942): 201.

82 frustrated by the logistical challenges: Morse, Richard Archbold, p. 15.

82 largest privately owned airplane in the world: Ibid., p. 23. The plane is sometimes called the Guba II, because it was the successor to a similar flying boat that Archbold sold to the Soviet Union, with U.S. permission, to help the Russians search for a plane that crashed while trying to fly over the North Pole. Archbold called the second plane simply the Guba in his accounts in the New York Times and elsewhere.

82 a range exceeding four thousand miles: Richard Archbold, “Unknown New Guinea,” National Geographic Magazine 79, no. 3 (March 1941): 315.

83 nearly two hundred people: Ibid.

83 “convict carriers”: Morse, Richard Archbold, p. 25. See also Susan Meiselas, Encounters with the Dani: Stories from the Baliem Valley (New York: Steidl/International Center for Photography, 2003), p. 8.

83 collecting mammals, birds, plants, and insects: A. L. Rand, “The Snow Mountains—New Guinea Group in the American Museum of Natural History,” Scientific Monthly 52, no. 4 (April 1941): 380–82. See also Richard Archbold, “Expedition Finds Rats 3 Feet Long and Kangaroos That Climb Trees,” New York Times, January 1, 1939.

84 “a pleasant surprise”: Archbold, Rand, and Brass, “Results of the Archbold Expeditions,” p. 211.

84 called the area a Groote Vallei: L. J. Brass, “Stone Age Agriculture in New Guinea,” Geographical Review 31, no. 4 (October 1941): 556.

84 stumbling upon Kansas City, Kansas: U.S. Census table, “Population of 100 Largest Urban Places, 1940,” http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027/tab17.txt (retrieved September 26, 2009).

85 expeditions in 1907, the early 1920s, and 1926: H. Myron Bromley, The Phonology of Lower Grand Valley Dani: A Comparative Structural Study of Skewed Phonemic Patterns (‘s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1961), pp. 1–2.

85 the light-skinned men, who must really be ghosts: Denise O’Brien, “The Economics of Dani Marriage: An Analysis of Marriage Payments in a Highland New Guinea Society,” Ph.D. diss., Yale University, pp. 7–8.

86 “the last time in the history of our planet”: Flannery, Throwim Way Leg, p. 4.

86 “Forestation is so heavy”: Editor’s note attached to Archbold, “Unknown New Guinea,” p. 318.

86 rough weather prevented him from changing course: Brass, “Stone Age Agriculture,” p. 556.

86 L. J. Brass, described what they saw: Ibid., p. 557.

87 farm country . . . central Europe: Archbold, “Unknown New Guinea,” p. 316.

87 “One was evidently a man of some importance”: Ibid., p. 321.

88 started their treks at opposite ends of the valley: Ibid., p. 321.

88 the natives practiced cannibalism: Archbold, Rand, and Brass, “Results of the Archbold Expeditions,” p. 253.

88 discourage the explorers from traveling to the next village: Archbold, “Unknown New Guinea,” p. 324.

88 tribesmen “in large numbers”: Meiselas, Encounters with the Dani, p. 12. The remainder of the Van Arcken reports from August 9 and 10, 1938, also come from Meiselas, Encounters with the Dani, pp. 12–15. In her translation, she uses “Papuan” rather than “native.”

89 “Here the natives seemed to take our party for granted”: Archbold, “Unknown New Guinea,” p. 336.

90 the most awful moment: The details of this incident were explored vividly by Susan Meiselas in her insightful book Encounters with the Dani. Meiselas reprints original copies of Van Arcken’s patrol reports and the map he drew of the valley, including his obfuscating label showing the location where “one Papuan died due to a lance attack.” Meiselas declares, “The colonial government forbade Archbold from discussing the August 10 shooting in exchange for Archbold’s continued access to the region.” Credibility for that claim is enhanced knowledge that colonial rule was already under challenge, as well as by a brief item in the New York Times on March 8, 1940, reporting that Archbold had been appointed “Officer of the Order of Orange Nassau” by Dutch Queen Wilhelmina.

90 guaranteed that the significance would be overlooked: Archbold, Rand, and Brass, “Results of the Archbold Expeditions.” Roughly six of the report’s ninety-one pages are devoted to Teerink’s and Van Arcken’s journeys, based on their diaries.

90 “where more than a show of force was necessary”: Ibid., p. 219.

90 “one native died due to a lance attack”: Meiselas, Encounters with the Dani, p. 15.

90 “reception the natives will extend is unpredictable”: Archbold, Rand, and Brass, “Results of the Archbold Expeditions,” p. 205.

9: GUILT AND GANGRENE

92 “this aching, miserable night”: Hastings, SLD, part 7.

92 “a sickening sight”: Ibid.

92 “evil-smelling, running sores”: Ibid., part 10.

93 She walked in agony: Ibid., part 7, in which she wrote, “I forced myself to walk back and forth . . . it was agony.”

93 burns on the left side of her face: Ibid., part 9.

93 the only one left alive: Pat Pond, “Reunion: Thirty Years After,” Women’s Army Corps Journal 5, no. 5 (October–December 1974): 19.

94 “as much for myself as for them”: John McCollom to Colonel Edward T. Imparato, n.d., reprinted in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 160.

94 walk all the way to the ocean: John McCollom and C. Earl Walter, unaired joint interview with Robert Gardner, Seattle, May 13, 1998. McCollom says, “I never even doubted that even if they didn’t find me, that I was going to make it—if I had to walk to the ocean.”

94 separated the candies by color: St. George, “Rescue from Shangri-La,” p. 6.

94 “delicious battery acid”: Hastings, SLD, part 7.

95 “we’re going to starve to death”: Ibid.

96 “I doubted him for a moment”: Ibid.

96 Several hundred U.S. women had already died: Information on the deaths of women in World War II was provided by retired colonel Pat Jernigan, who has done notable work on the history of women in the military, and also by http://www.nooniefortin.com/earlierwars.htm (retrieved October 2, 2009).

97 six nurses were among twenty-eight crew members killed: Ibid.

97 “a handful of icicles”: The story of the homemade WAC flag comes from Pat Jernigan and also from Eck, Saga of a Sad Sack, pp. 29–30. See also letter titled “I Am Proud,” by WAC Margaret Durocher, in Margaret Hastings’s correspondence file at TCHS.

98 calls were made to Allied landing strips: Report of Circumstances Surrounding Flight and Search for C-47 Aircraft Number 41-23952, U.S. Army document, MACR, contained in IDPFs of the crew and passengers who died.

98 “a forced landing”: Ibid.

98 twenty-four planes took part: Ibid.

98 A volunteer crew member: Lutgring, interview, January 5, 2010.

98 “this is it”: Hastings, SLD, part 7.

99 flew away without spotting them: John McCollom, sworn statement, MACR, p. 4. In her diary, Margaret Hastings does not record the first plane they saw at the clearing. Decker’s MACR statement is vague, but he seems to agree with McCollom by writing that they reached the clearing around 11:00 a.m. and “we were spotted by a plane that same noon.”

99 “Get out the tarps!”: Hastings, SLD, part 7.

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 “If there is no war, we will die”: Peters, “Some Observations,” p. 76.

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.

147 several thousand took the oath: Fabros, “California’s Filipino Infantry,” p. 4.

147 An American reporter: James G. Wingo, “The First Filipino Regiment,” Asia 42 (October 1942): 562–63. (A tagline with the story notes that Wingo “was, until the occupation of Manila, the Washington correspondent of the Philippines Free Press.”)

147 one battle on Samar Island: Fabros, “California’s Filipino Infantry,” p. 5.

147 heavy combat against the Japanese on Leyte Island: Ibid.

148 “‘I’ve got just the people to go in there’”: Walter, interview by author, July 6, 2009.

150 a four-part warning: Ibid. See also Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, pp. 16–17.

151 each one took a step forward: Walter, interview by author, July 6, 2009.

14. FIVE-BY-FIVE

152 “We can clear enough space”: Hastings, SLD, part 9.

152 a C-47: John McCollom, interviews, October 1997 and May 13, 1998.

153 the “walkie-talkie”: The survivors didn’t specify the model, but Margaret Hastings’s description makes it likely that it was the Motorola SCR-300, a celebrated two-way radio used extensively in the Pacific during the war. See www.scr300.org and Harry Mark Petrakis, The Founder’s Touch: The Life of Paul Galvin of Motorola (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1965), pp. 144–47.

153 “McCollom swiftly set it up”: Hastings, SLD, part 9.

153 too choked up to speak: St. George, “Hidden Valley.”

153 “This is Lieutenant McCollom”: Hastings, SLD, part 9.

153 Sergeant Jack Gutzeit: The crew members of the 311 supply plane were identified in Jungle Journal (newsletter of the Far East Air Service Command) 1, no. 4 (June 20, 1945): 3.

154 “almost too weak to move”: Hastings, SLD, part 9.

154 Captain Herbert O. Mengel: Jungle Journal, p. 3.

155 the natives had returned: The source of the scene and dialogue from the morning of Thursday, May 18, 1945, is SLD, parts 9 and 10.

156 New Guinea housing project: Hastings, SLD, part 10.

157 permanently embittered one resident: Yunggukwe Wandik, interview. After she reluctantly agreed to tell her story, the author paid her for the pig, on behalf of the people of the United States.

158 tomatoes and tomato juice: In SLD, Margaret Hastings only mentions tomatoes, but John McCollom, in his interview with Robert Gardner, said he and Decker found “about a half-dozen big cans of tomato juice and tomatoes.”

158 “Come on, Maggie”: Hastings, SLD, part 10.

158 tend more thoroughly to their wounds: Information and quotes about their first medical treatment, including quotes, come from Hastings, SLD, part 10.

15: NO THANKSGIVING

162 the best soldier he’d ever met: Walter, interview by author, July 6, 2009.

162 raced model airplanes: “Model Planes Continue Championship Flights,” Los Angeles Times, September 6, 1938, p. 8. Background on Abrenica also comes from his immigration and enlisted records, www.ancestry.com (retrieved November 29, 2009).

163 more perilous: Ramirez, interview. His enlistment records support Ramirez’s account of his involvement with the Philippine Scouts; his tale of capture and escape is supported by contemporaneous newspaper accounts of his involvement in the rescue at Shangri-La, including an undated news story in Walter’s scrapbook headlined “Shangri-La Hero Here; Filipino Visits Pal, Claims U.S. Bride.”

163 “‘I will get through there’”: Ibid.

164 “his gung-ho attitude”: Walter, interview with Izon.

165 spoke again with Colonel Elsmore: Walter, interview by author, July 7, 2009. Also Walter’s personal diary, dated May 17, 1945.

166 “It’s gonna be your operation”: Walter, interview with Izon.

166 “That was a mess”: Walter, interview by author, July 7, 2009.

166 “Do you really want to do this?”: Walter, interview with Izon.

167 Walter noted in a journal: Walter, CEW.

167 “Don’t let anyone jump”: Hastings, SLD, part 11.

167 “I could no longer move”: Ibid.

168 fleas in the blankets: Remarks of Colonel Jerry Felmley at John McCollom’s retirement dinner, September 23, 1980, Wright Patterson Air Force Base Officers’ Club. Felmley interviewed Decker for the occasion.

168 “Eureka! We eat!”: Hastings, SLD, part 11.

169 “Honest, Maggie”: Ibid.

169 “He was in great pain”: Ibid.

169 “They would chatter like magpies”: Ibid., part 9.

170 sized up the native woman: Ibid., part 11.

170 name was Gilelek: Helenma Wandik, interview.

170 “They held out a pig”: Hastings, SLD, part 11.

171 “It is the remembrance of pigs”: Heider, Grand Valley Dani, p. 39.

16: RAMMY AND DOC

173 Flying . . . over the survivors’ clearing: Walter, interview by author, July 7, 2009. This account also relies on Walter’s interview with Izon.

173 “The reason I dropped five”: Walter, interview with Izon.

174 “it looked like hell”: Ibid.

176 “It was patent to all of us”: Hastings, SLD, part 12.

176 “God bless you”: Kenneth Decker, interview by Sonny Izon, n.d.

176 “I said more ‘Our Fathers’ ”: Hastings, SLD, part 12.

177 “a hundred feet above the jump zone”: Ramirez, interview.

177 “The natives have spears”: Ibid.

179 “they came from the city”: Ibid.

179 more harm than good: Hastings, SLD, part 13.

179 “work the bandages off”: Ibid., part 12.

180 “how shocked he was”: Ibid.

180 “sorry-looking gams”: Ibid.

17: CUSTER AND COMPANY

182 Colonel Edward T. Imparato: Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 55.

182 take the plane in low: Walter, interview by author, July 7, 2009.

183 “When we first landed”: Ibid. Except where otherwise noted, the dialogue throughout this scene of the paratroopers’ landing in the valley comes from the author’s July 7, 2009, interview with Walter.

183 three hundred: “The Hidden Valley,” Pulse (suppl.), typewritten military newsletter, found in Walter’s scrapbook, p. 4.

183 “Custer’s last stand”: Walter, interview by author, July 8, 2009.

183 “frightening, weird sound”: “ Hidden Valley,” Walter’s scrapbook, p. 4.

184 “fully equipped for a combat mission”: Ibid.

184 an area known to the natives as Wosi: Lisaniak Mabel, interview by author, February 2, 2010.

185 “a vine from the sky”: Ibid.

185 his name was Yali: The leader of the Logo-Mabel clans was identified in photographs taken by C. Earl Walter Jr. by four separate witnesses interviewed February 1 to 3, 2010, including Yali’s grandson, Reverend Simon Logo.

185 “I waved those damn leaves”: “Hidden Valley,” Walter’s scrapbook, p. 4.

186 “they had nothing to fear from us”: Walter, interview by author, July 6, 2009.

186 Writing that night in the journal: Walter, CEW, May 20, 1945.

186 “never bathed”: Walter, interview by author, July 6, 2009.

186 “a lot of hugging”: Ibid.

188 “let’s take our pants down”: Walter, interview by author, July 7, 2009. See also Walter, CEW, May 21, 1945.

188 “‘That’s not mud’”: Ai Baga, interview by author, February 2, 2010. The Dani reaction to the soldiers’ nudity also relies on interviews the same day with Lisaniak Mabel and the following day with Narekesok Logo.

189 The Queen: Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 105.

189 strangers weren’t welcome inside the fence: Walter, CEW, May 20, 1945.

190 “For six hours”: Hastings, SLD, part 13.

190 scoured the jungle: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

190 “A native came running into our camp”: Hastings, SLD, part 13.

191 “with you by nightfall”: Ibid.

191 “My beau, Wally”: Ibid.

192 returned to the base: John McCollom, interview, October 1997. McCollom is the source of the dialogue for this entire exchange.

194 “We had to slice”: Ramirez, interview.

18: BATHTIME FOR YUGWE

195 Margaret awoke the next morning: Hastings, SLD, part 13. This account of Margaret’s bath also came from McCollom, interview by Gardner, October 1997.

196 “I looked around”: Hastings, SLD, part 13.

197 “We saw she had breasts”: Helenma Wandik, interview.

197 “a man, a woman, and the woman’s husband”: Ibid.

197 “always heartily detested”: Hastings, SLD, part 13.

197 “a short recon”: Walter, CEW, May 21, 1945.

198 “one of the most interesting parts of our lives”: Ibid.

198 “Fired a few shots”: Ibid.

198 “just for the hell of it”: Walter, interview by author, July 7, 2009.

199 “our weapons can kill”: Walter, CEW, May 21, 1945.

199 “One man, named Mageam”: Lisaniak Mabel, interview.

199 “Pika was shooting the gun”: Ai Baga, interview.

199 “our enemies didn’t come”: Narekesok Logo, interview by author, February 3, 2010.

200 a house for inalugu: Ai Baga, interview.

200 fueled up with a breakfast: Walter, CEW, May 22, 1945.

200 “God only knows”: Ibid.

201 “A declaration, called a maga”: Yunggukwe Wandik, interview.

201 “came out on a path and stopped us”: Walter, interview by author, July 6, 2009.

202 “more bother than good”: Walter, CEW, May 23, 1945.

202 “Did not understand”: Ibid.

203 “Things look bad”: Ibid., May 24, 1945.

203 “God only knows”: Ibid.

19. “SHOO, SHOO BABY”

204 “Finally they are over us”: Walter, CEW, May 25, 1945.

204 “Earl will get down there”: McCollom and Walter, joint interview, May 13, 1998.

205 “that yapping noise”: Hastings, SLD, part 14.

205 “He looked like a giant”: Ibid.

205 “I knew they were all right”: Walter, interview with Izon.

205 “His men worshipped Walter”: Hastings, SLD, part 14.

205 “a pretty good-looking gal”: Walter, interview by author, July 6, 2009.

206 an American flag waved: Ibid., July 7, 2009.

206 “The Lost Outpost of Shangri-La”: Walter, CEW, May 29, 1945.

206 “The Stars and Stripes now fly”: Ibid., May 31, 1945.

207 “won and lost thousands of dollars”: Hastings, SLD, part 14.

207 “Superman” and “Iron Man”: In her diary, Hastings refers to Caoili as “Superman,” but in captions on photos in his scrapbook, Walter uses the nickname “Iron Man.”

207 “There ought to be a law”: Hastings, SLD, part 14.

207 “Deuces wild, roll your own”: “Here’s a Soldier Who Refuses to Embrace a WAC,” Chicago Daily Tribune, July 12, 1945.

207 “don’t know how to play cards”: Walter, interview by author, July 6, 2009.

207 “The captain played”: Hastings, SLD, part 14.

208 “Walter was a personality kid”: Ibid.

209 “leave the men alone”: Walter, interview by author, July 6, 2009.

209 “just walk away”: Ibid.

209 “all the credit in the world”: Walter, CEW, May 25, 1945.

210 burial duty: Walter, CEW, May 27 to May 29, 1945.

210 a second Star of David: Document in the IDPF of Private Mary M. Landau, signed by her brother, Jack Landau, dated June 29, 1959.

210 helping to toss the funerary supplies: Oral history interview with Ruth Johnson Coster, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Object ID WV0145.5.001.

211 the trail of Margaret’s hair: Hastings, SLD, part 14.

211 “There it is”: McCollom and Walter, joint interview, May 13, 1998.

211 “Lieutenant Mac’s report”: Walter, CEW, May 29, 1945.

212 “we buried Captain Good”: Walter, CEW, June 6, 1945. News reports at the time said the burial service took place May 26, but Walter’s journal puts the date at June 6. The credibility of his account is enhanced by previous entries in which he writes that he is waiting for orders about the disposition of remains.

213 a hero in his own right: Air Force Link, www.af.mil/bios/bio .asp?bioID=5510 (retrieved February 18, 2010).

213 “Out of the depth”: Russell Brines, Associated Press staff writer, “ ‘Shangri-La’ on New Guinea,” June 9, 1945, found in Walter’s scrapbook.

213 “seemed to whisper a peace”: Ibid.

213 “the saddest and most impressive funeral”: Hastings, SLD, part 14.

214 “a long discussion on the world at war”: Walter, CEW, June 6, 1945.

214 “a true blue gal”: Walter, interview by author, July 6, 2009.

214 “When they climbed the mountain”: Yunggukwe Wandik, interview.

215 condolence letters: Copies of letters from General Douglas MacArthur, General Clements McMullen, and General H. H. Arnold provided by Major Nicholson’s family.

216 “a corrected report”: General Robert W. Dunlop to Patrick J. Hastings, May 27, 1945, Hastings’s archive file at TCHS.

216 “a very miraculous escape”: Chaplain Cornelius Waldo to Patrick J. Hastings, dated 8, 1945, Hastings’s archive file at TCHS.

20. “HEY, MARTHA!”

218 seeped into his journal: Walter, CEW, excerpted entries from May 29 to June 8, 1945.

220 Walter Simmons . . . was thirty-seven: Trevor Jensen, “Walter Simmons, 1908–2006: Editor and War Reporter,” Chicago Tribune, December 1, 2006.

221 Reporting in May 1945: Headlines are from stories published in the Chicago Tribune under Walter Simmons’s byline on May 13, May 17, May 21, and May 31, 1945.

221 A native of Nova Scotia: “Ralph Morton, Former War Reporter,” Newsday, October 20, 1988, p. 41.

221 more than fourteen hundred newspapers: Encyclopædia Britannica, www .britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/136280/Kent-Cooper (retrieved February 22, 2010). See also www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3445000019.html.

222 “In a hidden valley”: Walter Simmons, “WAC, 2 Yanks Marooned in Hidden Valley,” Chicago Tribune, June 8, 1945.

223 “The crash of an Army transport plane”: Associated Press, “Chutists Land in Shangri-La to Rescue Fliers,” Deseret News, June 9, 1945.

223 The New York Times: Associated Press, “Airfield Is Built to Rescue a Wac and 2 Men in New Guinea Crash,” New York Times, June 9, 1945.

224 “stop worrying and start praying!”: “Plane-to-Ground Conversations Reveal Details of Survivors’ Life in Shangri-La Valley,” Trenton Republican-Times, July 13, 1945.

224 “the queen of the valley”: Ibid.

224 “Shangri-La Gets Latest News”: Ralph Morton, “Shangri-La Gets Latest News from Associated Press,” St. Petersburg Evening Independent, June 13, 1945.

224 $1,000 each: Walter, CEW, June 16–18, 1945.

224 a pang of jealousy: Ibid.

224 WAC private Thelma Decker: “Plane-to-Ground Conversations.”

225 bought a box of chocolates: Associated Press, “Shangri-La Trio Hikes Out Today,” Salt Lake Tribune, June 14, 1945.

225 “She can go native”: U.S. Army air-to-ground transcript, June 24, 1945, reprinted in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 120.

225 “clawed at the aluminum door frame”: Walter Simmons, “Crew Supplying Hidden Valley Averts Mishap,” Chicago Tribune, June 21, 1945.

225 panning for gold: Ibid., p. 122.

226 cases of beer: Walter, CEW, June 9, 1945.

226 “too overcome to write”: Ibid.

226 deliver personal messages: “Tribune Sending Kin’s Notes to ‘Hidden Valley,’ ” Chicago Tribune, June 15, 1945.

226 “Robert was killed instantly”: John McCollom to Rolla and Eva McCollom, quoted to the author by Robert’s daughter, Dennie McCollom Scott, May 30, 2010.

227 “dropping me some panties?”: Simmons, “WAC, 2 Yanks.”

227 “begging for a pair of pants”: Hastings, SLD, part 15.

227 “Tropic skin diseases”: Ibid.

228 “Mumu” and “Mua”: Helenma Wandik, interview.

228 lengthy thoughts about the natives: C. Earl Walter Jr., “Miscellaneous Notes on the Natives,” CEW.

228 “some pictures of pinup girls”: Ibid.

229 couldn’t quite fill his gourd: Ibid.

229 “many curving lines on the paper”: Ibid.

230 “white gods dropped out of the sky”: Associated Press, “Three in ‘Shangri-La’ May Quit Peak Today,” New York Times, June 14, 1945.

230 “the happiest people I’ve ever seen”: Walter Simmons, “Hidden Valley Dwellers Hide Nothing, but All Wear Smiles,” Chicago Tribune, June 16, 1945.

230 “They lived well”: Walter, interview by author, July 6, 2009.

230 “the best-looking girl”: Walter, “Miscellaneous Notes.”

21: PROMISED LAND

232 “headlines all over the world”: Walter, CEW, June 11, 1945.

232 “my prayers on the future”: Ibid., June 13, 1945.

232 “My last news of Dad”: Ibid.

233 “I will not risk”: Ibid., June 10, 1945.

233 delayed their departure: Ibid., June 15, 1945.

233 kept after his journalistic prey: U.S. Army air-to-ground transcript, June 15, 1945, in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, pp. 79–80.

235 “Two Filipino medics”: Simmons, “WAC, 2 Yanks.”

235 hailed from Chicago: Walter Simmons, “Glider Takes Six More Out of Shangri-La,” Chicago Tribune, July 1, 1945.

235 reacted angrily in his journal: Walter, CEW, June 22, 1945.

236 “you gonna use any of this?”: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

236 “farewells to Pete and his men”: Hastings, SLD, part 15.

236 weeping at their departure: Ibid.

237 bestowed another maga: Yunggukwe Wandik, interview.

237 glanced back over her shoulder: Hastings, SLD, part 15.

237 “break off a bite and eat it”: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

237 “Nobody knew what the food was”: Tomas Wandik, interview.

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/factsheets/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 also 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.

292 “survived a hideous plane crash”: Ibid.

292 “I don’t think I can pick up”: “Corporal Margaret Hastings and Two Companions Are Rescued by Glider,” news clipping in Hastings’s scrapbook, TCHS.

292 “This is the best weather”: Ibid.

293 “Are you nervous”: Report of Samuels, reprinted in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 143.

293 135 miles per hour: United Press, “Glider Rescue Almost Ends in Second Tragedy,” Schenectady (N.Y.) Gazette, July 2, 1945.

293 “Oh boy. Oh boy”: Ozzie St. George, “Rescue From Shangri-La,” Yank: The Army Weekly, August 17, 1945, p. 6.

293 slowed the Leaking Louise: Ibid.

294 about one thousand feet: United Press, “Glider Rescue Almost Ends in Second Tragedy,” Schenectady (N.Y.) Gazette, July 2, 1945, p. 7.

295 through the upper branches: Ibid.

295 grazed a treetop: Hastings, SLD, part 18.

295 “into our line of vision”: Ibid.

295 hands sweating: Ibid.

295 “as far as she can go”: Associated Press story, unbylined but written by Ralph Morton, “Trio, Snatched Out of Valley, Arrive Safely,” Walter’s scrapbook.

295 cut the glider loose: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

295 “Let ’em heat up”: Ibid.

295 a persistent slap-slap noise: Hastings, SLD, part 18.

296 tried not to look: Ibid.

296 one more task: McCollom and Walter, joint interview, May 13, 1998.

296 cylinder heads . . . overheating: Report of Samuels, reprinted in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 144.

296 “brushing the mountain tops”: United Press, “Glider Rescue Almost Ends in Second Tragedy,” Schenectady (N.Y.) Gazette, July 2, 1945.

EPILOGUE: AFTER SHANGRI-LA

298 landed a quarter mile away: St. George, “Rescue from Shangri-La,” p. 6.

298 “Get a haircut and shave”: Transcript of press conference, reprinted in Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, pp. 184–89.

298 “The Four Musketeers”: Walter, CEW, June 30, 1945.

299 “We were excited to go.” Lisaniak Mabel, interview. This account is supported by a passage in a story printed in the Jungle Journal 1, no. 5 (July 4, 1945): “One boy the Filipinos were reluctant to leave behind was a chap whom they named Smiley. . . . For a few minutes, they thought they had him talked into a new future, but in the end he backed out.”

300 “The identity of the valley”: Science, n.s., 102, no. 2652 (October 26, 1945): 14.

303 letters to the victims’ families: Lt. Col. Donald Wardle, chief of the Army Disposition Branch, Memorial Division, to Mr. Rolla McCollom, father of Robert and John McCollom, May 1, 1959, in McCollom’s IDPF.

304 “segregation was not possible”: Ibid.

304 honorary pallbearer: Lieutenant Colonel Anne O’Sullivan, “Plane Down, WACs Aboard,” Women’s Army Corps Journal 5, no. 5 (October–December 1974): 16.

304 a lei of vanda orchids: Ibid.

304 Robert McCollom’s wedding ring: Wardle to Mrs. Cecelia A. McCollom, the widow of Robert McCollom, May 13, 1959. (Coincidentally, fourteen years to the date after the crash.)

305 his best friend: Melvyn Lutgring, interview by author, January 9, 2010.

305 larger historical event: Inteview with Margaret Harvey, Henry Palmer’s daughter, on March 12, 2010. See also obituary of Henry Earl Palmer, Watchman (Clinton, La.), October 28, 1991.

306 offered a choice: Samuels, Reflections of an Airline Pilot, p. 76.

306 military honors: “Ray Elsmore, 66.”

306 An obituary: Ibid.

306 obituary of George Lait: “George Lait, Coast Publicist, Dies at 51,” New York Times, January 13, 1958.

306 Ralph Morton: Associated Press obituary, “Ralph Morton, Former War Reporter,” Newsday, October 20, 1988, p. 41.

306 Walter Simmons: Jensen, “Walter Simmons, 1908–2006.”

307 “stopped off to be an alcoholic”: Tony Stephens, “Talented Agent Loved His Actors,” obituary of John Cann, Sydney Morning Herald, September 25, 2008, www.smh.com.au/news/obituaries/talented-agent-loved-his-actors/2008/09/24/1222217327095.html (retrieved August 14, 2009).

307 returned to acting: Reuters obituary, “Canadian Actor Dies,” Ottawa Citizen, December 22, 1977. See also Cann, interview, and follow-up e-mails.

307 Lucille Moseley: “Filipino Scout Weds U.S. Girl,” undated news clipping in Walter’s scrapbook. Accompanied by a second unbylined, undated clipping headlined “Shangri-La Hero Here.”

308 dissolved the 1st Recon: Commendation letter signed by Douglas MacArthur, dated August 15, 1945, found in Margaret Hastings’s correspondence file at TCHS.

309 “ ‘Did you earn that?’ ”: Walter, interview by author, March 1, 2010.

309 last entry in his journal: Walter, CEW, July 3, 1945.

309 “highlight of my life”: Walter, interview by author, March 1, 2010.

310 married late in life: Betty McCollom, interview.

310 a telephone call every year: John McCollom, interview, October 1997.

310 tears to his eyes: John S. McCollom to retired Colonel Edward T. Imparato. See Imparato, Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 160.

310 left the military in 1946: John S. McCollom’s obituary, Dayton Daily News, August 21, 2001, p. 10, provided by Betty McCollom.

310 “Why wasn’t I killed instead of them?”: Ibid.

311 “a baby daughter he had never seen”: McCollom to Imparato, printed in Rescue from Shangri-La, p. 160.

311 Robert, alive, waiting for them: Pond, “Reunion,” pp. 18–19. During his unaired interview with John McCollom, Robert Gardner tried sensitively to raise the subject of Robert McCollom’s death, but each time John McCollom changed the subject or said something along the lines of, “I was lucky.”

311 too weak to carry him: Betty McCollom, interview.

312 his own obituary: McCollom’s obituary.

312 “most celebrated young woman”: Miller, “Reconversion of a Heroine,” p. 5.

312 “She’s blonde”: “Read Shangri-La Diary,” Boston Sunday Advertiser, July 15, 1945, n.p., Margaret Hastings’s scrapbook, TCHS.

312 fielding offers: “The Price of Fame,” editorial, apparently from the Owego Gazette, July 14, 1945, in Margaret Hastings’s scrapbook, TCHS.

312 “true comic”: Frances Ullman, editor of Calling All Girls magazine, to Margaret Hastings, July 19, 1945, in Margaret Hastings’s correspondence file, TCHS.

312 dined at Toots Shor’s: Miller, “Reconversion of a Heroine,” p. 5.

312 three thousand people: Stuart A. Dunham, “Shangri-La WAC Home, Finds Every Girl’s Dream Come True,” Binghamton Press, July 20, 1945.

313 “alligator pumps”: “Owego Welcomes WAC Home,” Owego Gazette, July 20, 1945.

313 movie offers: Ibid.

313 Loretta Young: Sidney Skolsky, “Hollywood Is My Beat,” undated gossip column clipping in Margaret Hastings’s scrapbook, TCHS.

313 waving their handkerchiefs and crying: Miller, “Reconversion of a Heroine,”, p. 5.

314 fourteen different states: Tour schedule contained in Margaret Hastings’s correspondence file, TCHS.

314 letter is chaste: Letter from Don Ruiz to Margaret Hastings, dated October 10, 1945, in Margaret Hastings’s correspondence file, TCHS.

314 “I have the deepest sympathy”: Colonel Luther Hill to Margaret G. Nicholson, July 21, 1945, provided by Major Nicholson’s family.

314 “‘my commander’s widow’”: Interview with John McCarthy, September 13, 2009.

315 “overwhelmed with war stories”: Callahan, interview.

316 “if he didn’t drown”: Associated Press, “Former WAC Recalls 47-Day Jungle Ordeal,” Los Angeles Times, November 26, 1961.

316 honorary members: “Hidden Valley Survivors to be Honored,” Silent Wings 1, no. 4 (September 1974): 1.

316 “doing what has to be done”: Pond, “Reunion.”

316 “You bet!”: Ibid., p. 18.

316 “a good fight”: Callahan, interview.