At the time of World War II, much of the island was uncharted — hundreds of planes crashed there, and few were ever found.
This is one of the few crashes in New Guinea where survivors lived to tell the tale. The flight began as a sightseeing tour with 24 men and women stationed in New Guinea boarded the Gremlin Special to fly over a hidden valley that had been nicknamed "Shangri-La."
An enormous valley 40 miles long, 8 miles wide, and inhabited by anywhere near 100,000 to 120,000 tribesmen who were living basically a Stone Age existence."
Five days after V-E Day that celebrated the end of the war in Europe, the C-47 left the base in Hollandia on New Guinea’s northern coast about 2:15 p.m. on a morale flight over Shangri-La. It crashed into a mountain near the valley entrance 45 minutes later, killing all but six instantly.
Low-lying clouds obstructed the pilot's view and the plane slammed into the side of a mountain, 165 miles from civilization
One of the few survivors, John McCollom, was an Army lieutenant, he led the two other injured survivors, Cpl. Margaret Hastings of the Women's Army Corp and Sgt. Kenneth Decker, on an arduous trek in search of a clearing, where they would have a better chance of being seen. After a journey through a dense jungle and down a steep, treacherous gulley, they finally reached an open area where they were spotted by rescue planes.
the only survivors: Sgt. Kenneth Decker (from left), Cpl. Margaret Hastings and Lt. John McCollom
After much consideration, it was decided that the only aircraft that could get in and out of the valley were gliders. At first, it seemed an unlikely choice, says Zuckoff. "Who among us said, 'OK, we have no way out, let's drop gliders into this valley a mile up off the ground?' "
Not ideal, but it was the best solution they had. Multiple gliders were sent down into the valley, and the survivors and paratroopers were strapped into them.
The rescue mission then sent tow planes overhead, with hooks on their bellies, to snatch the gliders up into the air and bring the wounded survivors to safety.
Cpl. Margaret Hastings (right), the lone female survivor, was a media favorite. At a press conference after the rescue she quipped, "I'd like a shower and a permanent."
She received a hero’s welcome when she got back to New York, and gave over 200 speeches on her Victory Bond tour.
After leaving the U.S. Army, she attended Syracuse University for two years then married, lived in Rome, New York, and worked at the Griffiss Air Force Base in an administrative position.
She was named an honorary member of the National World War II Glider Pilots Assoc.
A new historic marker was dedicated in Owego New York, honoring the life and service of Cpl. Hastings. The marker is located at Cpl. Hastings former residence in Owego.
It is the first historic marker in New York State honoring a female veteran.
Everyday, we would get an aircraft in that would aerial resupply us. Some of the drops were good drops; some of the drops were bad. We usually got a plane everyday, unless it was fogged in. Supplies and radios were dropped, along with food and clothing. That was kind of funny because Decker and McCollum wanted clothes, but all the clothes that came in were for the WAC Corporal.
After this was over, I asked Alec why we got so much press. He said it was a dead news time since, at the time, the Philippines were under control and Okinawa hadn't taken place, yet. He said, "You, also, had a WAC that was on the plane, so the press thought this was unbelievable copy."
On July 2, 1945, after having spent forty-two days in the jungle and after we hacked out the landing area, we were ready for a glider to land. We only used one glider at a time. The Army Air Force was concerned because they had to get up to about 10,000 feet once they snatched the glider from the ground. It was one of the highest recorded glider pickups; it was over 5,000 feet. (Editor's note: It was, also, only the second Glider Landing in the PTO
The crew of the Gremlin special were the first people in the world, outside of other local tribes of course, to encounter the Dani tribe.
Zuckoff tracked down the only surviving key player in the story at a retirement home in Oregon and got his hands on journals, photographs and scrapbooks of the adventure, but it was an interview with the son of the Dani tribesman who befriended the survivors.
Thank you John S!
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