Surviving the Jungle: Lorentz National Park

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World War II was a war that affected the globe. It began when Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany invaded Poland and gained control of much of Europe. And it grew around the world when Japan tried to take over Asia and the Pacific. Mass casualties were lost, and people around the planet were affected. Fear has historically served as a catalyst for war.

fear of the unknown, fear of the loss of power and control, fear of the practices of other people. As quoted by Andrew Smith, people fear what they don't understand. and hate what they can't conquer. But not everything in World War II was hate and violence. People and the masses formed together to save the oppressed people. Many risked their lives for others.

aided them in food, shelter, and more. And one story that erupted during World War II had nothing to do with the war itself. But instead, a plane crash. When military members found themselves stranded, alone, injured, and on the verge of death, a society they not only feared, but also didn't understand, was their only chance of survival. Welcome. to National Park after dark.

A plane crash, you say? I'm doing it. I'm doing a plane crash episode. Wow, I'm stunned. I am floored, actually. You can't have all the fun. Yeah, I hit my quota and I'm done. I think, for a while. I know. You've boycotted plane crashes. You're like, I've done so many, I'm not doing them ever again. Nope. So where in the world are we going? An unknown society? Is that what you said?

Well, it is a known society, but we are going to be going to New Guinea. Oh, okay. Yeah. So New Guinea is, if you don't know where it is, it's an island. It's part of Indonesia. It's an island just north of Australia. Wow. Okay. I'm so excited. So we're heading across the globe right now.

Unless you're in Australia, then we're not too far away. Do we have anybody in Australia who listens? Definitely. We've had people message us and say that they're in Australia. Some of our Patreon members are in Australia too. oh yeah hello hello let's uh let's do it because i'm very intrigued

It's a super interesting story, and it is. I'm excited to tell it because we haven't really done too many of these recently, but this is a survival story, which is also like the bread and butter of stories that I like to tell. So we are going to be venturing into... a national park known as Lorentz National Park and this is located in Indonesia's Papua province and it is the largest protected area in all of Southeast Asia. It covers over 96,000 square

which is 250,000 square kilometers. And it is the only protected area on the planet that incorporates not only snow-capped mountains, glaciers, and a tropical marine environment. with wetlands as well. So it's very diverse. It is one of the most ecologically diverse national parks in the world. Lorentz National Park is located at the meeting point of two colliding continental plates, which has created a landscape of dynamic and complex geology.

Scientists here have been able to study the history of the Earth's formation along with the last glacier and post-glacial periods here. The enormous Jayawijaya mountain ranges here stand over 15,000 feet or 470 meters they are a direct result of the collision between the australian and the pacific titanic plates it was established as a national park in 1997 because of this amazing range of ecosystems that are

here. There's a high level of biodiversity found across the region. There have been many different types of vegetation here found over 125 mammal species. There have been over 630 different types of bird species.

have been found here and it contains five separate eco-regions including lowland forest, montane forest, subalpine grasslands, mangroves, rivers, and streams. Not only does this park contain an extremely important part of the world's ecosystem but it also protects seven separate ethnic tribal groups that have been almost completely untouched by the modern world and the population of these people is estimated to be between 6,000 to 10,000 people in

side of the park, but around the neighboring regions, there is up to 600,000 people in these valleys. All within these different tribal groups. Yes. Okay.

Most of Lorenz National Park is unmapped and unexplored, which means that it is expected that there are a lot more species of plants and animals and possibly people here that have yet to be found by Western science. And today, my story is we are... going to be telling a plane crash from world war ii that crashed into this hidden valley of people whoa okay this is very um well i guess maybe not lost city of z feeling but it's also kind of Not.

I mean, it's, I see the resemblance of it for sure. Yeah. Like quote unquote new, like finding, finding new, like big air quotes. People, like obviously I hate the word for thousands of years. I hate saying, you know, when people.

say it was discovered or found anything that was discovered or found and like has been there for a long time right yeah it's like other people have seen and done and are very familiar with a lot of things that you know in 17 1800s they're like look at this marvel it's never been seen before it's like that's wildly incorrect wildly false but this area is largely unexplored there isn't a lot of knowledge of it so it's definitely

interesting. And in May of 1945, when the U.S. Army Forces C-47 aircraft crashed into the mountains of New Guinea, it crashed into a valley that was nicknamed Shangri-La. Now, this time period, as I kind of mentioned in the intro, is during the very end of World War II. Military forces had been deployed and stationed on the island just north of Australia because it served as a good middle point for the war.

wars happening in Nazi-run Europe and Japan, it was a good location for them to be for the military, for them to be able to deploy to wherever they were needed. Japan had also been threatening to bomb the island, and Americans served as a buffer to make sure that that didn't happen. There were several different branches of the army and military who were stationed on the island, and one of them was the women.

Army Corps. So prior to World War II, women were not allowed to participate in war, and it wasn't until after the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7th, 1941, that there was a bill put through that was actually allowing women to join. However, at first, this original bill barred women from participating in warfare, and instead their jobs consisted mostly of clerical work, baking, driving, and medical duties. And while women received the same basic pay as their...

male counterparts. They were not permitted to receive overseas pay while they were overseas, and women were not eligible for government life insurance. So this meant that if they were killed during war, their families would receive no financial assistance after. By 1943, recruiting numbers had dropped significantly because women were finding better pay and better benefits jobs outside of the military. So by January 1943, a new bill was introduced

allowing women to enlist in the army or reserve forests and gave women the opportunity for equal rank, privileges, and benefits that the males in the military were originally given. After this, members of what abbreviated is called

So members of WAC were assigned to Army Air Forces, Army Ground Forces, and Army Service Forces. Is that... women's army corps women army corps is whack okay all right i just wanted to make sure i was following yeah so in new guinea now in 1945 there are both men and women who are here okay

is where i was getting with with all of that information about women there is that it's both men and women and in new guinea it was popular for these men and women in the military to go on sightseeing tours over the country because at this point in time

It was largely uninhabited by, I would say, modern society because we know that it is actually inhabited there. But this country is beautiful. So they would take these military planes and they would fly over and they would see the valleys and all these mountains. It's just beautiful, beautiful area. And crews would often try to fly over what was known as Hidden Valley, which is also called Bellium Valley.

And it's called Ballium Valley today, but it was nicknamed Shangri-La. This area was massive. It extended 40 miles long and 8 miles wide, and it was inhabited by thousands of tribesmen. From the aircraft on these sites... seeing tours you could look down into the valley and you could see mushroom top living structures of people who lived there so they had these big like haystack mushroom shaped structures that they would look at and it was pretty well known that these people had largely not

been interrupted by western society previously there was only one american zoologist who had actually led an expedition to this area and during his expedition he was there to study like the flora and the fauna

he actually didn't really care about the people which is funny looking at it because you just come across this whole thousands of people in this whole new society and you're just like you know i'm here for the flowers and the plants and i want to know what's here so he went there and he said

studied all that he really didn't talk about what the people were like at all and he came back and reported his findings of the plants and the animals but not the people so no one really knew if they were friendly if they they were about is very misunderstood there was one instance while he was there and i couldn't find a ton of i guess i didn't look too much into it because it's not

what this story is about but there was one instance while this person was here that one of the natives died after this there were these rumors that started to fly that these tribal communities participated in strange cultural ceremonies They did human sacrifices. They had volatile, violent behaviors. And also that they were cannibalistic. I got to pause you really quick.

Because this whole everything you're describing right now reminds me of one of my all time favorite books. And I know it's probably like losing its luster every time we recommend a book or say it's like so good and it's amazing. But it truly.

is it was the first book that I read when I first moved to Colorado however many years ago and it was like I was first like out on my own adventure and like whatever and it's called I Married Adventure and it's a true story about Osa and Martin Johnson and they were explorers and expeditions. They went on a bunch of expeditions throughout Africa and all over the world when like photography and cinematography was in its very, very early stages. So they would be going out and

photographing and living amongst all of these places that like, you know, they're from, I think they were from Kansas. So like people in Kansas are like, they would go out on all these expeditions and come back after six months with this footage of the people.

and animals and things like that. People in Kansas in the 1800s, early 1900s could... only dream about and it's just like they were tapping in and seeing for the first time quote unquote first time all of these new amazing things and it's just really reminiscent of what you're talking about right now and I just had to say like if anyone's really interested in their story. It's an amazing book and it seems very similar to where this is all going.

What's it called again? I Married Adventure. I Married Adventure. I was wondering for a moment if you were going to say the book that I used for the research for this episode. No, there's no playing crowd. Well, okay, I'm not going to spoil it. Don't give it away. Yeah.

Okay. Anyway, go on. Well, for this story, I read a book because we do that for so many of these stories. But I read a book. It's called Lost in Shangri-La. And it's written by Mitchell Zuckoff. I thought that's what you were going to say. So that's funny. No, no. No, but yeah, kind of similar, I think. It's not a survival story, so that's how I knew it. Okay, yeah.

So basically, these sightseeing tours were a way to observe these native people from far away and from a safe distance, because now there were these rumors that they're cannibalistic, they're violent. Another rumor that was they... were seven feet tall cannibalistic tribe people that would attack you and all this stuff so people wanted to see them the military people wanted to see them but from afar and on their own time it wasn't like a big mission or anything it was just

these sightseeing tours they did while they had free time on the island. And this is all stemming from one report from this zoologist? It seems that way. Well, the zoologist was the only person who actually made contact. with them everyone else all these other stories it seems like we're stemming from flyover

like planes flying over and observing from afar. Okay. Okay. But this is the only person who actually ever had contact and he didn't even care about them. People are like, oh, how are the people? And he's like, so the plants. Right. So they're like, hold on a second. So all of this is rumor. And it was May 13th, 1945, when there were 24 men and women service members who decided that they wanted to go on their own sightseeing tour over this hidden valley. So they boarded a...

B47 flight that was nicknamed the Gremlin Special. I like that. I feel like it sounds kind of ominous. Only because the word gremlin's in it. Yeah. Well, I mean, we know it's a plane crash story now, but I'm like... gremlin that's the gremlin special i really like that i'm gonna do something with that i don't know what yet but depending on how this story turns out i guess i should hold my tongue yeah Takeout. Takeout.

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So the gremlin special was a C-47 plane and it was painted in camouflage colors. And the idea behind that was that if they were flying and any enemy forces were flying above them, they could dive lower. towards the forest jungle and they would be camouflaged. Smart. Yeah, great idea. Blend into the jungle. It is not such a great idea if it crashes and you're hoping someone will find you. That is true.

So it was 2 p.m. in the afternoon when the passengers of the plane lined up and boarded it, and it was planned that this would be about a three-hour flying tour. The instructions from the pilot were first to allow the female passengers to board, and then the... men so there were nine whack women which was the women armies corps who boarded first one woman who boarded her name was margaret hastings and she was first in line she was a woman from pennsylvania who had enlisted

when she was 27 years old, and she was now 30, and she had been promoted to corporal. Now, Margaret was a beautiful woman. She was standing at only 5'2". She was very slender. She had big, beautiful blue eyes. Despite her very small size and stature, she was a very tough military woman. She was super excited. She jumped onto the plane and she ran towards the seats closest to the cockpit of the plane. But as she looked outside, she...

noticed that all she could see was the wing. So immediately she's like, nope, this isn't going to do. She runs back to the other side of the plane and she sits down on the last seat on the left-hand side of the plane. And here she had a perfect view.

Following her, her close friend, Sergeant Laura Besley, sat in the seat directly across from her on the right-hand side of the plane. And it's important to note on the plane that if this isn't a passenger plane where everyone's sitting, everyone's facing...

facing towards the pilot. The seats are actually on the left-hand side of the wall of the plane and the right-hand side of the wall of the plane, and you're facing each other. And then there's an aisle between you. Gotcha. So her friend Laura sat across.

from her on the right hand side and the center aisle of the plane was really narrow so when she sat across from her their feet were almost touching next to sergeant laura besley was private eleanor hannah she was another woman from pennsylvania whose had a history of serving in the military and Eleanor had a reputation for singing wherever she went. Other women on board was Private Marianne Gillis, an amateur pilot, and also

Belle Name from the Bronx, Sergeant Helen Kent, Private Aletha M. Fair, and Private Mary Landau. Following them was pilot Corporal Peter Prossen, a man from Texas, and co-pilot Major George H. Nicholson. Along with three other people who worked on the plane was Sergeant Hillard Norris, the plane's engineer, Private Melvin A. Mulberg, the assistant engineer, and the radio operator, Private George Newcomer. Next, following them, were 10 more male...

passengers that included lieutenants, sergeants, corporals, majors, and captains. Sergeant Kenneth Decker, a man from Kelso, Washington, entered the plane, and he had boarded the plane to celebrate his 34th birthday. When he did board the plane, he wasn't particularly happy because as soon as he walked on, he saw Margaret Hastings, who was the woman sitting the very last seat on the left, and he was not super excited to see her.

actually a little bit embarrassed because a few weeks prior to that he had tried to ask her out on a date and she declined oh no so he's like oh no it's my birthday and she's right there and she doesn't like me he got over it he sat at the other side of the plane and it took all of about 15 minutes to board everyone and by 2 15 they left the airstrip and Peter Prossen was flying up and above the forests of New Guinea.

Now it was a clear and beautiful day with beautiful views of the lakes, the valleys, the ridges. And the pilot announced over the radio that it would take about 55 minutes to get to the hidden valley. Now this hidden valley that they were headed to had only been... discovered a year prior, and this was the first flight that these two pilots had ever taken there.

Pilot Peter Prossen decided to leave the cockpit and head to the back with the others because to him, this was kind of a bonding experience. He knew everyone on the plane and it was supposed to be this fun, exciting adventure between all of them. So he went back there and... out and co-pilot George Nicholson stayed up front, but he was much less experienced of a pilot and had only actually been flying for about three years. On top of that, the only thing that either of the pilots knew about this

route were things that other privates had told them before. They knew that that there was a very treacherous and intense mountain pass that they would have to get through at low elevations and that it was very narrow and that was all they knew from others.

pilots. At this point in the flight, several people had their seatbelts unbuckled. The majority of the people on the plane knew each other and they were having conversations. They were jumping from seat to seat to try and look out the best view. They're all hanging out, just talking, having...

a nice time. It's not a passenger plane. You can kind of do what you want. Which seems so foreign. Like I can't even imagine being on a plane that you just, you know how people like on a regular plane when the seatbelt sign goes off and they're like, you're free to move about the cab.

and some people just like get up and like walk around. I have never once in my life done that. Like, where are you going? And what are you doing? And you're right fucking next to somebody like in the aisle, like your butts in their face. There's no room. There's no room. Like all eyes are on you. Like, hello, what are you, why are you standing there? They brush your shoulder if you're on the outside and you're like, ugh. I know.

So it's just like what you're describing right now. I'm really trying to picture and it's very difficult, but I get it. I get it. I feel like it's it's the school bus ride of a plane, you know, on the school bus. School buses. Oh, my God. that was a free for all that's a yeah a free for all and then the bus drivers yelling at you to sit down in your seat and you're jumping from each one for no reason Oh, my God. It's so funny. I totally forgot about school buses.

You're just wilding out. You're like running up and down the aisles. Like you can like hang upside down. Like people are crawling on the floor and like, you know, it's just like what's happening. You're in a moving vehicle still. Yeah. There's no seatbelts. There's no seatbelt. rule when you're on a bus.

I don't even know if they, I'm sure they do actually have them. They're just like tucked into this. I would never know how to locate one. Yeah, I know the front seats, sometimes they have one, but yeah. Oh, good. I don't know. One or two seats. Yeah, two people are okay. Bye.

And then if you're in the back, if you're in the back row, you're right next to the emergency exit door that you could just rip open at any time. That was the place to be, though. Yeah, that's where all the cool kids sat. Yeah, it was treacherous down there, though. That's where the drug deals. were happening right right the shady shit was going down yeah

If you sat in the very front, you just talked to the bus driver and got home safely. If you were in the back, you ended up with weed in your pocket. You went to juvie if you sat in the back. Where are you today? Right. We need to know. Are you OK? Because I'm concerned. I was definitely like. a middle a mid back person but not the back back you know what i'm saying like i was at the back end of the middle section

Or and or the front of the back section. I sometimes made my way to the back. I'm not going to lie. I can get that. I get that feeling from you. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. The drug dealing. But you never went to juvie. So here I am. Yeah, that's true.

proved wrong look at me and i was arrested in high school in my in my high school how do you get arrested in high school i got arrested in my school like on school grounds i would have paid to be a fly on that wall i had two beers before a school dance and i know i know it's my only run in with the law oh my god Yeah, it was terrible. And I wasn't a back of the bus person and yet I still got nabbed. So yeah, no one's safe. No one is safe. Okay, let's get back.

Plane. Okay. So we're flying in the plane. It's like a bus ride is what we were getting at. Right. Circling back. Circling back to the story. The number one resolution for people last year was to save more money, but nearly half gave up by February. Don't let that be you. Download Rocket Money to reach your financial goals this year.

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At this point they were flying at about 13,000 feet, which is... just under 4,000 meters. And they were in this narrow valley within the jungle mountains. So on either side, there's mountains on either side in there in this very narrow passage. And as they enter this canyon type area, area, co-pilot George Nicholson dove the plane closer to the ground, flying only about a thousand feet above it. And then he was only about 400 feet above it.

On purpose? On purpose. Okay. So the intention behind this was to be able to get a closer look into the villages. And as they got closer, they did get a good view. They saw the mushroom top roofs. They saw farms. They could see farms of sweet potatoes down there. They could see these different structures that were from the villages. What they couldn't see was they couldn't see any people. And Margaret at this point, she's looking out the windows like, where are the people?

I thought I was going to be able to see people. So she's kind of like peering out, not seeing anything, but she has the best view in the house. So she's still staying in her seat. And then suddenly in front of the plane was a large set of clouds that came in and were up.

obstructing the views of the passengers and the pilot. But one thing that the pilot was able to see through the clouds was an oncoming ridge. A major rule of flying when you're flying within a valley of mountains is to be able to make sure that you're in a position where you can always turn. So you can turn around, you can go left, you can go right. But at this point, they had flown so deep and low to the ground in this narrow valley that it was too thin to turn the plane in any direction.

for George was to fly upwards. Nicholson grabbed the control wheel and pulled back hard. Pilot Prossen was still in the back of the plane and this less experienced pilot was on his own. As the plane's nose reared towards the sky, The branches of trees below scraped the belly of the plane. Clouds had come in almost completely now, which meant that the co-pilot was flying blindly. As the plane struggled to gain altitude, gusts of wind and downdrafts hit the plane.

Branches began smacking the plane, the sounds of scraping on metal, branches snapping, and the engine roaring filled the air. The plane shook, and a feeling way worse than any turbulence they had ever felt before took over the plane. crashing. At just 3pm that day, the plane spiraled into the jungle mountainside and caught on fire. The walls of the plane collapsed and both wings ripped away. The tail of the plane broke off and flew across the sky and downward.

Next, small explosions, one after another and another, and bursts of flames filled the cabin. Black smoke filled the area and made it almost completely dark. The smell of burning metal, leather, burning rubber, burning hair. burning flash filled the air.

Because Nicholson had had the nose facing upward when they crashed, they didn't hit the mountainside head on, which would have exploded the whole plane on impact. Instead, it was slowly burning and falling apart. A man by the name of John McCollum who had been sitting next to Margaret Hastings had been ripped from his seat and he had been flung to the opposite side of the plane in the crash. When the plane finally came to a stop and he stopped somersaulting from being tossed around he found

himself surrounded by fire. He could see a small hole of light where the tail of the plane should have been but he couldn't walk to it. The roof of the plane had been crushed down so far that he couldn't stand. He crawled through the smoke and fire towards the light

until he was eventually outside. Miraculously, he was almost without a scratch. When the gremlin special had collided with the mountain, Margaret had been thrown from her seat and bounced around the cabin, smashing into walls over and over. the plane came to a stop. When she came to from the confusion, she realized that she had landed on top of an unconscious man. She tried to move but immediately realized that this man, before he had died from his injuries, had locked his arms around

her. For a moment, she considered giving up right then, but when the flames came closer, she found herself angry that she was in this situation, and she managed to pry the man's hands loose. She began to crawl with no idea of what direction she was heading. And with the fire raging around her, she crawled as fast as she could away. Luckily, she had

been going in the right direction, and soon she found herself outside of the plane where the tale would have been. John McCullen, who had emerged from the plane only about a minute before Margaret, called out her name. Almost immediately, they heard a woman scream from inside the air.

craft. Get me out of here. At this point, it was almost completely engulfed in flames, but without a second thought or consideration of the possibility that the plane might just be about to explode. John McCollum, an army lieutenant, rushed back inside. Inch by inch, he crawled around looking for her. It was Laura Besley. John yelled for her to give him her hand, and moments later, he had her outside of the aircraft. As soon as she was safe, John turned around and ran back into the flames.

Next, he found Eleanor, severely burned, and carried her out of the wreckage. Now John's hands were mildly burned, and his hair on his head, eyebrows, and hands were singed. But other than that, he was miraculously unhurt. By now, the plane was completely engulfed in flames and small explosions after small explosions were continuing. There was no way that John could successfully go back inside to save another person. And at this point, he doubted anyone

else was alive anyway. A sense of terrible grief washed over him at this realization. His twin brother had been on that plane with him. Suddenly, from the right side of the plane, a man staggered towards them. It was not his brother, but it was Sardin.

Kenneth Decker and he was badly injured. He was disoriented and burned. In the middle of his forehead was a gash so deep that it revealed the bone of his skull. His right elbow was broken, the calves of his legs were severely burned, and he was bleeding.

but somehow he was still walking. John asked him what part of the plane he had come from, but Kenneth could not answer. The only words he muttered were, hell of a way to spend my birthday. Oh, this is the birthday guy. Happy birthday, Ken. Oh, shit.

Yeah. After John looked around at Margaret, Eleanor, Laura, and Kenneth, he quickly realized that he was the least injured of all of them, and it would be up to him to be in charge of what happened next. He asked Margaret, who seemed to be in shock, to tend... to Eleanor. Eleanor was severely burned from her neck down, and it was obvious that the extent of her injuries wouldn't allow her to live very long. Margaret asked her if she'd like to sing. They both tried, but nothing came out.

When they got out of control, the surviving people made the decision to get away from the plane. With Eleanor thrown over John's shoulder and the rest trailing behind him, they headed down the hill and threw thick ferns, rhododendrons, and orchid plants to safety.

safety, John and Kenneth went back up to the crash to try and find any remnants of supplies. John saw in the near off distance that the tail of the plane was sticking up from the ground. It was not on fire and he ran over to see if there were any supplies that had stayed in

inside. When he climbed in, he found a bag inside that contained a first aid kit. There were bandages, morphine, antibiotics, and a couple of small things to eat. He also found a life raft, a few bottles of water, and some tarpaulin. On their way to bring the supplies, back to the group, the life raft caught on something and was ripped. When they arrived, they gave the women water and antibiotics to try and avoid infections from their wound.

John also gave Eleanor some morphine. So there was no one in the tail of the plane? No, it's just the supplies. Okay. That night, they saw a plane fly overhead with flares, and this was most likely in attempts to search for them, but they had no way...

to signal that they were alive and where they were. This area that they're in is just filled with vegetation and jungle plants, vines. They're pretty hidden, so there was nothing that they could do. The following morning, they found Eleanor had died.

Laura Besley, who had been sitting next to her on the plane, seemed to be hit the hardest by this loss and sobbed uncontrollably, but she was also shaking. Throughout the day, Laura's condition began declining. While her outer burns didn't look severe,

The group had begun to worry if she had internal injuries. She was uncontrollably shaking and could not keep any water down. The two men returned to the tail of the plane that morning where they found more first aid kits. Two cots, rafts, a signal. mirror and 17 bottles of water that contained about a cup each. That day, the group was exhausted. They set up two cots and spent most of the day trying to rest after the minimal sleep they had had the night before. Margaret and Laura laid together

hugging each other tightly under the terrapin tarp to stay warm and also to not fall off the sides. Laura became more and more restless throughout the day and was given more morphine to try to help, but it didn't seem to make too much of a difference.

Eventually, Margaret was able to fall asleep despite Laura's fidgeting, but at midnight, she woke up again, and this time, it was eerily still. She found Laura wasn't moving at all. She watched to see if her chest would move up and down with her breaths, and there was nothing. Then she checked her pulse. Again, nothing. Suddenly awake, Margaret began to shout, Help! Help! Laura has died. The other men woke, confused.

Laura's injuries didn't seem that bad. And at first, they didn't believe her at all. They thought that she was overreacting. But upon checking her pulse, they found that it was true. They wrapped her up in a tarp and placed her body under a tree that they had left Eleanor under as well. Out of 24 passengers on the plane, now there are only three survivors. Margaret, who had begun keeping a journal of their time there, wrote that night, There will never be a night that is longer.

than this one. The following day John spotted a clearing in the distance.

it was decided that it would be necessary for them to hike there. While generally speaking staying with the crashed plane usually meant a better chance of rescue, this particular instance was different. with this thick canopy of trees and the camouflage painted plain.

Their best chance for a rescue plane to see them was that if they were in that clearing. As they began the trek, they realized just how difficult that this was going to be. The brush was so thick with vegetation that it was easier to crawl on the rainforest floor. than it was to walk and it took them 25 minutes just to get 25 feet further towards their destination. On top of that, they were on a ridge. One wrong step in some places meant falling down a deep crevasse to their deaths.

At one point during their trek, Margaret's hair, which length was halfway down her back, was getting caught in the branches and vines. And despite her trying to put it up and put it out of the way, it was tugging and pulling so much that she asked John to just cut it all. off. John grabbed his pocket knife and cut it down to a three inch bob.

Eventually, during their trek, they came across an empty dried up creek bed that served as a trail. While it negated the need to bushwhack through plants, it was steep and they found themselves climbing over boulders and sliding down vertical slopes. Eventually, the group reached water and cascading waterfalls. They had to climb through rocks and streams, swing from vines across rushing water, trek through vegetation, and slide down running water. It was not an easy journey for...

this injured group and every 30 minutes they would have to stop and rest. As they continued further towards the open valley where they might be spotted by the rescue planes that they could still occasionally hear overhead, their excitement to be rescued began to change into fear. They began to see human footprints that were not their own. And this was a stark reminder

that they weren't alone here. They had no idea how the people here would react to them, and from everything they had heard, they were violent and cannibalistic. They didn't reach the valley that day, and none of them slept well that night. The next morning, both Margaret and Kenneth's wounds were worse.

Their burns and cuts were now obviously beginning to get infected, and the risk of gangrene was severe. John noted in his head their injuries and the real possibility that if they didn't get rescued soon, that they would lose their limbs or their lives. to sepsis. All of them were hungry. They had only had eaten small candies that they had found in their supplies.

Still though, neither Margaret or Kenneth complained, although both of them were in a lot of pain, and they trekked on throughout the entire day. Eventually, they made it to the clearing, and immediately they noticed this wasn't just a random clear. in the middle of the rainforest. This had been cut down and this was a garden. It had sweet potatoes and wild rhubarb. This meant that they had just landed themselves smack dab in the middle of the tribal people's territory.

In the distance, they started to hear what sounded like wild dogs barking. But soon, it was obvious that these noises were human. The sounds quickly got closer and closer. In their heads, they knew that This had to be the seven foot tall, cannibalistic, wildly violent tribesmen that they had only wished to see from the distance of an airplane. And they had absolutely no means to protect themselves. Suddenly, dozens of almost completely naked men emerged from the forest.

They had gourds that hung in front of their genital areas and some wore bracelets on their elbows and they were all covered in pig grease, making their dark skin shiny. Each of them held weapons made from wood and stone that had been sharpened. At this exact same moment these men stepped forward, a rescue plane flew overhead. It hung in the air for a moment, but the clearing was not large enough for them to land.

and they flew away they were now alone with these people again they're like looking down like um we'll we'll be back like It looks like you got something going on there. We're going to head out. We'll circle back. We'll see if we're still hanging out there in a little while. Oh, boy.

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So John quietly barked out orders for the other two. He said, smile as big and friendly as you can. Hold out your candies for peace offerings. And then John held out his only weapon, which was a pocket knife. Over 40 men lined up, each holding wooden axes and one of them holding a giant spear. The barking continued. As they advanced closer to them,

They smiled as big as they could. They were smiling like their lives depended on it. The barking quickly changed to excited chattering and gestures towards them. John, Margaret, and Kenneth had absolutely no idea if this was a good thing. or if this was a bad thing. An older man stepped forward almost completely naked except for a gourd around his genital area and a necklace of a narrow shell that extended down his chest. It was clear that this

was the chief of their tribe. He gestured for the group to come closer to him, but none of the plane survivors moved. He gestured again. for them to come to him, but much more forcefully this time. They still did not move. Margaret was in so much pain that she didn't think that she could make the trek across the field to him anyway, and instead, they held out their hands and gestured.

for him to come closer instead. Chatter immediately emerged amongst the tribesmen, and John made the decision that at the very least, he should meet the leader halfway, and he stepped away from Margaret and Kenneth with no idea.

What was about to happen? As he stepped away, he yelled back to Margaret and Kenneth, keep smiling. I'm sitting here like smiling. I'm just like... i know no one can see me except for you but like my i'm just like super like tensely smiling because i'm scared like what's gonna happen uh i'm happy Oh boy. So John approached the leader, smile from ear to ear, and he extended his hand and he grabbed the leader's hand and shook it.

smiling and through his teeth said it's so nice to meet you hello hi why is these are my first move why is he doing that He's just feeling really ballsy here. And there were some accounts that said that they thought the leader stuck out his hand first to shake his hand. But then other accounts were like, no, you just grabbed his hand and shook it.

God, that makes me... so wildly uncomfortable it's so uncomfortable and he's just like ear to ear grinning like these are my friends hello these are our offering we have candy we have my knife you can have it hello and suddenly the tension was completely broken. The leader and all the tribesmen were smiling hugely back at them and although

They didn't speak the same language. They couldn't understand each other. There was the universal signal of a smile is safe and they understood it between both parties. Okay. I'm going to stop smiling right now because my face hurts. Oh, God. Now, unbeknownst to the plane survivors, the natives had a deep spiritual belief in white ghosts and spirits. They frequently offered sacrifices and lived their lives around these spirits that they believed in.

believing that they had the power to bring good or harm to their people. The natives had also seen their plane crash. They did not understand what a plane was, but when the fire started in the forest, several natives had been lurking in the woods to investigate. When they saw the pale faces and long straight hair on them, they feared that the white spirits had arrived and it was the beginning of the end. And now it would be their job.

to appease the spirits. As Margaret observed the people she was surprised to find that their behavior was much less fierce than she had imagined. Instead they seemed shy and timid. As they continued to greet each other one of the natives started a fire and began to cook some of their sweet potatoes. In exchange, they tried to give them their pocket knife and candies, but the natives didn't understand what they wanted and they weren't interested.

In another attempt, Margaret took out a compact mirror that she had had with her and showed it to the leader. Him and the other tribesmen were amused by this and jumped up and down with excitement when seeing themselves inside of it.

Imagine the first time seeing something so completely foreign to you. Like you just have no, you've never seen your own reflection. Yeah, like maybe in water, like a little fuzzy, you kind of have an idea. But you're looking at it. It's like, you're just like, that's my face. that's me yeah like hello that's what i look like it's like i know what you look like and you look like i see you every day but i don't know what i look like so amazing

Now, they were super excited to see this, and there was also something else that they were really excited about and interested in that they had never seen before, and that was Margaret and her blue eyes. Oh. They were staring at her and examining her, and Margaret didn't realize it at the time, but it was because she had these big, bright blue eyes that none of the people there had.

Now when the chief noticed the injuries of Margaret, he looked at her with sympathy and he began to blow on her wounds. She didn't really appreciate this at the time because he had horrible mouth hygiene, but she... Let it. go obviously because you're trying to be cordial and she didn't know this she had a feeling um that it was an act of caring but this was actually a signal from him that they were going to try and help them and that they wanted to do

anything they could to help her survive. Yeah, she like kind of recognized the gesture behind what was happening. She knew it was good. Yeah, right. So they spent the entire day together, and when the evening came, the natives had left. That night, however, when they slept, they awoke to the chief standing over them and watching them. Now this wasn't in this scary...

creepy way, it was clear that he had come back to check on them and that he was worried. He stayed that entire night and watched over them. The following morning around 9 a.m., they spotted a C-47 plane flying above them. When the plane hovered over them, the cargo door opened and they unloaded wooden supply crates attached to red parachutes.

They landed about 100 yards away from them and Kenneth and John ran to get them. When they returned, they had a portable FM radio that would now allow them to communicate with the army. John set it up and radioed in. An immediate response followed.

John told the person on the other end what happened in the crash. He also relayed the news that they were the only survivors. The man on the other end assured them that a rescue plane was in process and that they would be dropping off food and medics down to them shortly. The natives arrived again that morning and started a campfire in the field, and that morning they all smoked a piece pipe of tobacco together. The plane returned with more cargo boxes that day and dropped more supplies.

They were sent food, antibiotics, mosquito nets, and water. I just think it's amazing to share a peace pipe with a group of people that you don't speak the language you know nothing about and you find yourself you're clearly injured and they just come by and they're like, hey. Let's smoke this. We're all good here. Yeah. It's just an amazing testament to like unspoken. There is, you know, unspoken ways of communication, like nonverbal. And to just.

connect with people so literally from another part of the world like just you're you couldn't be more disconnected and you have so much that you just can't relate to on surface level to these people but yet you're all human. So you all have a very like basic universal understanding of each other because of that, you know? Yeah. And I just, I think that is just so cool.

It just had to be such a wild experience on both on both ends. You know, you're seeing these people you've never seen pale skin before. They're coming. out of this weird craft. You don't know what it is. And then you're smiling at each other. You're smoking together. They're injured. And they thought they were spirits too. They thought that this was like a spirit that had come to either save them or end.

their whole community so it's just it must have been such a interesting experience to be part of And by this time, Margaret's wounds had actually turned gangrenous. Her legs were covered in dead tissue, and she was looking at the real possibility of losing her legs. Kenneth's head wound was deep and infected, and there was... Trigger warning. Gross. That's not how that works. Okay, you said it.

In the wrong order. Wrong order. Great. Sorry. Sick. He also had deep burns and gashes on the back of his legs and his butt that had now become gangrenous as well. They needed to be rescued soon. But that day, fog and mist came in and no medics or paratroopers would be dropped down to help them. That day, the native people brought them a feast. They brought a pig, sweet potatoes, and fruit.

They didn't know this at the time, but pigs had a significance to the people. Pig was served at all important meals, but now after the army's rations of food that they were able to eat, they were too tired. full, and sick to accept the meal. Thankfully, the natives seemed to take no offense, and they left without an issue, and then they all slept for the night.

the following day paratroopers and medics were dropped down to the clearing to assist them and along with them was a reporter back home there had been a media frenzy about the missing plane the survivors and the thought of them out in the woods with cannibalistic people. The reporter had come to document everything. When the medics arrived, they brought meals with them. They had baking, coffee, and more.

like delicacies that they hadn't been offered. They attended to Margaret and Kenneth pouring antibiotic powders, peroxide, and all these different topical treatments to try and help them. Now, meanwhile, while they are being tend to for their wounds and things, there was a rescue mission that was underway. Because of the thickness of the jungle. And because of the small area that they were in, there was no way to short haul them out to a safe location like we've seen in other.

things and transport them to a hospital. One, because of how small the area was, but two, because no helicopter could get over the mountainous ridges to get there. So no helicopters would come in. They couldn't short haul them anywhere. they had to get a plane in there to get them out somehow.

Because of the extent of their injuries, it was decided that the group would have to wait in the clearing for a couple of days or weeks until rescuers were able to get to them. The army had to find a way to get a plane to them, but this was difficult and the only location that they could find that could possibly do this was several miles away, and the rescue team would have to be sent to retrieve Kenneth, John, and Margaret and bring them back to the site where a plane could land.

Everything's always so complicated. It's never easy. These rescue missions, it gives me a huge respect for these rescue operators though, because. People who are initiating these rescue missions have to go through a lot of loops and trial and error and planning and all this stuff to get people out. Because if you have to be rescued, you're probably in a spot that's hard to be at.

You shouldn't be in. And now you have rescue teams that have to come in. Nine paratroopers landed almost 20 miles away and they were fully equipped for a battle with machine guns, rifles, and lots of ammunition. They didn't know what they were getting into. While it had been reported that the tribes where the survivors were were friendly, there were lots of other tribes within this jungle and they didn't know how other people were going to react to them. That's a very good point. Okay.

was kind of like that seems like you're doing too much you know but yeah you're doing a lot but 20 miles away and yeah you you don't know who knows yeah yeah so they show up and they're fully they don't know what to expect they think Well, there could be some big tensions here. But again, after just a few moments after meeting the tribes, the tension was broken and these natives were very welcoming.

The tribe of men approached the paratroopers and actually began rubbing and stroking them up and down around their bodies.

At first, it seemed like exploring them and seeing who they were, but after a while, it felt a little bit more intimate, and in diaries later written, they referred to it as, it seemed like they were trying trying to make love and the paratroopers were very confused by this and their only explanation that they could think of of why this group of natives were acting this way was that they thought that they must think that they're women what they're like the only reason this

this big group of men would be stroking our bodies up and down and rubbing us everywhere is because they have to think that we're women. So in this realization of what... they think is going on because they can't communicate verbally the nine paratroopers decided to drop their pants to show them that they had penises okay this did not stop the natives from touching them they were like kind of like okay and like kept rubbing them a little bit so

They continued to remove their clothes until they were even more naked than the natives were because the natives had these gourds that covered their genital areas. So now they're just standing there naked and they're saying, I have a piece. Penis. I'm a man. I'm a man. Okay, but also, like, does that matter? Well, what the... You know what I'm saying? What the paratroopers didn't know was that this was the very first time that the natives had ever seen clothes.

Oh, the only previous expedition that had ever been out there of people who were wearing clothes had never actually made it out to this specific tribe. And this was the first time they had ever seen clothing. And to them, it looked like the men were an extra layer of skin that was removable. So they were touching them out of curiosity about their clothes. They didn't understand what it was. And they were equally as confused as the paratroopers when

their reaction to them touching their clothing was for them to get completely naked and remove all their clothing. Yeah, it's like, okay, what's happening? We're all confused. We're like, why are you getting naked? Natives actually thought that this is really odd because in their own culture, they wore the gourd all the time.

to cover their private areas. And the only time you took it off was in extreme moments of privacy. So to just like now they were looking at these men like, oh my God, you're naked. Like cover up, please. What are you doing? and they thought that these paratroopers were putting on like the show for them that was like a really embarrassing show so

These natives actually went back to their tribe and started telling all of their people about like these strange, weird guys who are just ripping off their clothes and like flaunting around. And so all of the natives were like. running back to see what this weird spectacle was of them and after this happened they started putting their clothes back on and

The other natives left a little disappointed, but the story ended up being a story that these natives laughed about and told for like generations until they died. And it was like this huge story of like embarrassing laughter. at the paratroopers. Yeah, I could imagine. That is a story for the ages. Just like these weird white people came and just started. Getting naked and running around and shouting at us. We had no idea what was going on. Oh, the confusion. It's just unmatched.

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Eventually, after several encounters with other natives, the paratroopers did make it to the clearing and to Margaret. kenneth and john it was clear when they arrived that they would be staying for a while the three survivors were in no shape to make the trek to a base camp that was being set up where it would be possible to land a plane

They would have to tend to their wounds first before they could have them hike there. Over the next week, they spent their days recovering, playing cards, making meals, and interacting with people. They brought them food and interacted with them often. They traded goods that they had. They even tried to understand each other's language. They all became...

Pretty good friends. Even though they couldn't understand each other, there was this friendship that was formed while they were all there. When it was finally time to go, it was a treacherous trip. to base camp. Margaret especially struggled carrying a pack and navigating through the forest. She was physically feeling better, but she was still in a lot of pain. Eventually, they did make it to the base camp, and it was

Finally, time to initiate the rescue operation and get them out of the Hidden Valley. But a huge obstacle that they faced was this area was still too small to land a regular plane and no helicopter could get there. There was no... No way that they could have a plane land there at the altitude that they were at and then have an airstrip that was long enough for them to make it into the air again. So they needed to find a way to get them into a plane.

But they couldn't land a plane there. And it's a plane, so they don't hover either. Right, obviously. So they decided that the best option would be to use a glider plane. they were going to initiate a rescue which was called a snatching technique. A glider plane could land there, but it would have to be dragged out of this valley by another plane before being let go to fly in the air.

So basically what they were trying to do is they would land a glider plane down. They would attach it to another plane in the air and that plane would take off and drag.

a glider plane up and out until they got to a certain point where they could let go they would detach and then it would glide off and yeah okay sketchy i was gonna say is this gonna go wrong because i feel like there's a lot of ways that can happen i think it's so sketchy especially you just survived a plane crash like we're gonna jerry-rig this

weird maneuver and get you out of here and be like oh I just survived a lot can you can we not my legs are falling off like can we do something else please just get me out of here now when the first glider plane landed the The native people assisted the paratroopers in actually pushing the plane to another area to be able to take off from. And then they attached a nylon towing rope to the plane.

And then they took the end of it and attached it to the top of these really tall poles. So it was lined up where the plane could dip down. It could hook on. to this rope and then fly off and they had to do this all in one big swoop and get it done right. And now this glider plane would have to be attached to the other plane until they reached an altitude of 12,000 feet.

When it finally became time to initiate this rescue, it was decided that the first plane would carry out the three plane survivors. So before leaving, there were a lot of tears that were shed by both the survivors and the natives because over time they had really all become friends and they knew that this was going to be the last time that they saw each other.

I think it was more when I was reading, it was more Margaret and Kenneth and John knew it was the last time where the natives still, some of them really believed that they were these spiritual people and these planes were coming in. They didn't totally understand. that this was the last time that they were seeing each other. But there were tears shed. There was hugging. People were very sad. And Margaret, she talks about that she was...

Like crying so hard that she had to blow her nose and like wipe her tears. Like that's how sad she was to leave these people. And can you remind me how long have they been there by this point? At this point, they've been out there for almost seven weeks. Okay. Very long time. Before the glider plane was to take off.

One of the rescuers warned them that the nylon rope might break on their first try, and when the plane attached and pulled, they would feel whiplash with the strength of the pull. They all strapped in and held onto some handlebars. that were placed just for that purpose, but with that knowledge that the nylon rope might break, Margaret was terrified. She asked, what happens if the nylon rope breaks? And he made a joke of,

Well, the army has a $10,000 insurance policy on me. It's like you get into a second plane crash. That's what happens. Yeah. And Margaret did not think his joke was funny. And Margaret was horrified. She's like, did I just survive a plane crash, hiking out all these places, gangrene, like... Meeting all these native groups not being murdered just to die in a second plane crash. She was not thrilled. But she had no other choice. She had to get out of there somehow. So she sat in the plane.

The other plane came down and attached to the chow rope with no issue at all and took off for higher altitudes. The survivors felt a quick snap as the plane was jolted forward and it fled into the sky. But the plane was struggling to gain altitude. The tow rope whipped and thrashed through the jungle trees and the plane was jolted from side to side. The belly of the plane grazed the top of a treetop and Margaret was clutching her fists and praying hard.

They weren't high enough to pass the highest ridges they were approaching. The snatch plane was struggling to gain altitude, and its engine was starting to overheat. But the plane didn't quit. Just as the pilot was about to cut the rope, To get rid of the other plane so they both didn't crash, he gained just narrowly enough altitude to manage to pass over the ridge. And 90 minutes later, they landed at the same airstrip.

They had left for their sightseeing tour seven weeks earlier. I mean, I know at least somebody lived because you're telling the story, but God. Over the next several days, two more glider planes were... successfully landed and flown out carrying the rest of the paratroopers and rescue teams their rescue mission was successful and

Today, the crashed plane is still on the mountainside, along with 21 memorials and dog tags for each of the fallen victims beside it. Whoa. That is the end? The end? Wait, what about, hold on. What about the Native groups and stuff? Like, are they still, they didn't go back for like, I know you said this is probably the last time, but. Yeah, so actually the story for the Native groups.

is really sad so reading about this after what happened was a couple years later some religious groups came in and they convinced however they convinced i didn't um really do a lot of research on it but they came in and kind of took over and a lot of the old native peoples they're dressed in their gourd and their necklace and stuff and it's more of someone will go and take a photo for money god that is sorry That's just really heartbreaking. Yeah, it's really, really heartbreaking. They've...

It's still not a place that's super easy to reach or to visit. And it is somewhere that I think you have to have like special government permission as a tourist and things like that. And there's arguments. Some people argue. Well, now they have better access to health care where they didn't have health care at all before and stuff like that. And now they in the future, they'll have more opportunities in the world.

But the other argument for that is you just destroyed an entire culture of people. An entire culture of people who didn't need to fit those parameters of Western society. Like they were fine. It's just sad because you're seeing a way of life die out. for no other reason other than you know a certain set of people think that their way is the only way and

I just find that really disgusting. Yeah, it's really awful. And I agree with you a thousand percent. I think whatever views you have, you're entitled to them and you can have them and you can practice them yourself. But to take... this these people who have been living there and to be like i can make your conditions better follow my faith follow our ideologies we can bring you health care we can bring you jobs we can bring you money when this wasn't a thing there in the past

is really disheartening because it is a whole culture that's dying. I will say that they didn't take over every tribe and people. There are still tribes that exist out there and are untouched, but it also over there. logging companies have come in and they've logged massive areas so the area where the plane crashed is still there it's still lush green full of forest it's untouched but there's neighboring areas that have been

by logging companies as well. Yeah. I don't know. There's just the whole argument of, or discussion, I should say, of like, we can give you... X, Y, and Z, jobs, opportunity, money. Okay, that's through a very Western lens. You know what I'm saying? It's like, okay, but they had quote unquote jobs. They had roles within their community. They were fine. Money, like... What is the need for money if they've been functioning as a society for thousands of years without?

currency in the way that we view it and opportunity well for what is opportunity to find opportunity because it seems like they're doing great And they were thriving, you know, and now to see how they were before versus now, like you said, a lot of them are experiencing homelessness and having a lot of issues. That obviously took a turn in that direction when all.

this influence started coming, which we see in a lot of different cultures. You know, we see it here in the United States with what happened to indigenous communities here, you know, and it's kind of the same thing. It's history repeating itself just in another location. Right. But my intro was we fear what we don't know. Right. And what we fear, we try to conquer. And it's...

we don't know this, then we should teach them our ways or it should be our way. This way is better. And it's just, I think history has repeated itself many times where we find something. that we don't understand or we don't agree with and we hate it. And I don't want this to come across as like a hate towards religious groups because it's absolutely not. You can believe what you want.

And you can practice whatever you want. And if you want to tell people about your beliefs, you're certainly able to do that. But on the other end of that coin is that these people, their culture is being erased because of it. And they're experiencing... issues and troubles and problems that they never did because western society came in to show their side of life and how things are done their way instead of just understanding respecting and honoring the way that

They lived their own lives. Well, I can't even get into that moral argument right now because I don't want to. I think our stance is clear. But that was a wild story. And one that I'm, you know, for the people who survived the end, it seemed like. You know, I'm going to say this again. Another really great book. I love this book. But it's seriously not that not the book you're talking about, but Alive, which I think we've talked about before.

on this podcast i feel like we have too like a long time ago but yeah about the rugby team that crashed in uh the andes and it was a horrific horrific situation i mean cannibalism of i mean people's friends and fans family members and just like what they had to go through and stuff. Like that's an extreme story of survival. And so is this, but it had the added twist of they were. totally immersed into a new culture and helped and they i'm sure those people are forever changed you know

Not only because of the experience, but because of what they learned about other cultures and people and having faith in people and especially during a time that was so volatile, you know, and about hatred for other people. So, yeah. Yeah, it's super interesting, super, super interesting story. And the book, the book that I did most of my research from, it's called Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff. And I would recommend it to everyone. I mean.

Like I say, with a lot of things that we research, the book covers so much more. The book goes into a lot of the rescue mission side of the story, and it goes into so many smaller details that I did not.

include in this episode just for time and writing and condensing it into a focus of the story for this but read the book I mean it's amazing there's just so much time that was spent here and there were so many different aspects and viewpoints in history that goes along with why the rescue mission occurred the way it did on the rescuers that were out there it goes more into the people who died in the crash you know it's just it's a really really

well-written book. Well, it was a really, really well-told story. So thank you for sharing. Thank you. And yeah, I guess that's it for now. Right? Nothing else? Yeah, that's... that's it all right well i guess uh we'll see you guys next week in the meantime enjoy the view but watch your back bye Thank you for joining us again this week. If you have a trail tale you'd like to share, send us an email

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