P-MAN IX Update #13
Hello Everyone!
Success!!
Today was a great day. We found something that has not been seen since 1944/45 and we did not actually think we would be successful. The odds were slim. But, taking into account shifting plans and a whatever-it-takes attitude, we were graced with a find.
But first, lessons learned!
The plan for today would be determined after we heard what Joe found out from some contacts weve been chatting with. After he reported in, we determined that we should do three things today:
We decided to leave the grave hike for last as we thought it would be a quick trip. Its only a quarter mile or so off the road. On the USGS topo maps of Palau, there are occasional references to graves. After chatting with Jolie Liston, this invariably means not Palauan graves. We have had no reports that anyone has ever visited these listed graves and they happen to lie underneath the flight path of an airman weve been looking for. His airplane has been found, but he hasnt been. We never got to do task three today.
We loaded up the van with all the gear for hiking the jungles. Since we planned on not entering the mangroves, we did not need our water shoes and sting suits. We also had the normal lunch menu in a cooler.
Our first stop was going to be with an elder we talked to about 4 years ago. We had been searching a mangrove for an airplane, and afterwards we talked with this gentleman. He said we were searching in the wrong place. He said that it was 200 meters in the other direction in the mangrove. Well, without any corroborating evidence, we decided not to re-enter the worst mangrove that Pat had ever been in. Since that was my first mangrove day, I only knew it was next to impossible to make any headway. If you go back to the updates from a few years ago, youll know we cried uncle.
We got to this mans village and Joe looked for someone to tell us where he lived. Joe came back to the van with some sad news. The elder had a stroke last year and could not speak anymore. We did not want to disturb him or his family so we went to the next elder.
We had never interviewed him before. We wanted to see if he could add anything to our intel files. Unfortunately, he was in the hospital in Koror. Nothing overly serious Im told. So on to our hiking site.
Enroute to the site we came upon a naval gun emplacement the Japanese had set up. Five massive guns pointing right at the channel leading into Koror. The story is the guns were never fired in anger. And they dont seem to ever have been hit by any ordnance.
After a few tourist photos, we geared up and drove the rest of the way to our let-in point.
We got the property owner's permission to park our van and cross their turf. Some of the prettiest views in the world. We hiked to another tourist spot that had been altered by the USMC during the war: a lighthouse installation. Since Bob and Derek are here for the first time, we want them to see some of the historical sites. But as we looked around the site, the old hands saw more and more buildup of the area. Maybe there were storms that cleared some leaves and vines (doubtful) but we found out-buildings, bomb craters, light poles, unexploded bombs, and more. We hadnt noticed so much in the past.
Well, we dropped down to the mangroves. The plan was to walk the edge along the shoreline and see what we could see. But when we got to the edge, there were obvious thin spots to the mangrove. So we slightly altered the plan. We would walk the thin spots until we encountered thick enough mangrove that you had to pretend you were on monkey bars at the playground. Then we would angle to shore until we found another thin spot.
We did not have our mangrove equipment with us, but the tide was out. It was relatively dry. As we did our thing, we let Joe go solo. Thats what he does best. The most charitable thing we can say is that we slow Joe down if we attach him to us.
So we looked around and found some interesting stone work. A pier heading out through the mangrove towards the sea. We went a little ways down it. Just enough to see that it goes a long way out there. We found what could be an ancient platform, and at the end of the day, maybe even an ancient grave. Well have to get Jolie out to make that determination.
Then, the radio call from Joe we all want to hear when we are in the thick of things: Ive found something were looking for.
It took us easily 30 minutes to grope our way through the mangrove to Joe. Those with machetes were hacking and those of us without (me) were crawling, climbing, twisting and swearing our way through the thatch weave of the mangrove roots. Joe had to talk us to him as we only have about 15 feet of visibility.
We got to Joe and he had two pieces of metal. It was obvious that they were aviation and did not belong in the mangrove. And they didnt just float in. After inspecting what we had, we found that we had the feed chute to a 50 caliber machine gun, and the machine gun to go with it.
We broadened our search and we each took a heading out from these pieces: one person heading south, southwest, west, northwest and north. Items were found both north and south, but none out to the west and none as we came in from the east. This is exciting! A debris field was being defined.
We found another machine gun and feed chute, a wheel and some larger chunks of aluminum.
We cant determine exactly what airplane this is yet, but with the blue paint we found, we feel pretty good about saying that it is a Navy/Marine Fighter type. And we do know that only one Navy/Marine aircraft was ever listed as going down in this area. The pilot is still MIA. Maybe this is the first step in bringing someone home.
We have already informed JPAC of the find. They are here and they are the professionals. If they want to see it, well take them in. However, we arent going to let them use the trail we blazed through the mangrove. Theyre going to have to sweat a little. We sure did!
Its amazing how technology improves. Bob Holler bought the same model of GPS that Pat has, just a few years newer. His antenna picks up satellites all the time so even in the deepest jungles or mangroves, Bob can track us and get waypoints for us. DOB plotted all the points on Google Earth and that confirmed we have a linear debris field. The next time we go to the site, well do an in-depth search north and south and see if we can find more of the airplane. The engine and airframe cannot be too far away.
We decided to extract ourselves a little earlier than we had planned. Joe felt a storm coming in and did not want us out in the mangroves when it hit. But before we did, Pat and Derek said a few words to commemorate the sacrifice that this aviator made. Well go back and do a flag ceremony as we always do. If this aviator is ever found, and the family is notified, well have something for them. Captain Derek Abbey, USMC, made a two-word speech: Semper Fidelis.
So we hacked our way out, widening our trail so it will be easier (not easy, mind you) to get back in.
Hiked back to the car and had a victory meal of salami sandwiches with fiery hot Pringle potato chips. We had skipped lunch as no one wanted to leave the mangrove to get lunch. Then Bob Holler made our day. He said that this was the toughest jungle stuff he had ever seen. And hed seen a lot on Okinawa.
After tending to some small scrapes, we piled into the van and headed to Bem Ermii (Come and Try) 2. You might recall they make the best milkshakes on the island and they have a second store at the KB Bridge. They were great. Nothing ever tasted so sweet. As I was sucking the last of my shake through the straw, I noticed the front left tire on the van was a little low on pressure. Bob went to check it out and it was flat.
No problem, well just use the spare. Problem, no jack and only a short handle that wouldnt reach to lower the spare tire down. Well, at least were closer to Koror than when I creamed the transmission pan. Just then, Mason Whipps pulled in. He takes great care of us all the time.
Mason is the owner of the van. He smiled and called his tire guy to come out and take care of us. He gave us some tools, he left and we started taking care of business. Derek was loosening the lug nuts and jacking the car. Someone was trying to lower the spare. However, the crank rod got stuck. Not a big deal except we would not be able to lower the rear hatch of the van with it in place.
All was healed when the tire guy came out. Rod removed. Car jacked. Then the new tire went on, the car was lowered, we moved the spare to the rear cargo area (I think we all thought that this was not going to be a one time occurrence.) and off we went. Normally, we like going to Sams for sunset, but after we clean up. However, we seem to go there directly from successful field trips for a celebratory beer and plate of sashimi. Its fun to see the look on the faces of the scuba divers when we walk in covered in dirt and sweat. Im pretty sure Sam and Dermot his manager know why we come in sweaty and stinky and they tolerate us. I was going to say they love it but that would be a stretch.
We went back to the hotel to pour over pictures, check GPS readings and now I am writing to you.
Its an amazing feeling to go through what we did today. We went out expecting nothing but sweat and dirt. We got a lot more. We have more work to do on this site. However, to give some knees a rest, and meet up with someone who is going to lead us to a water site, we are going diving tomorrow. Its a day off, with just a little work enroute. But Im sure Ill have a story for you tomorrow.
Did I mention that its a great day?
Blue SKies, Flip
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