We had an incredible morning at the jungle survival camp at Subic Bay where the GIs trained on their way to Vietnam. Of course we got the two hour Disneyland version, but it was incredibly meaningful to have even a tiny taste of what our guys went through to prepare for their tours of duty in Southeast Asia. I doubt if their trainers had a hard time capturing their attention. Our guide showed us how to start a fire using dry bamboo in just a few seconds. I asked him how quickly the Americans learned to start the same fire, and he said they were pretty fast. I guess it helps if you know that your survival depends upon it. He also showed us how to cut a cup, spoon, plate and even rice cooker out of green bamboo. He was using a huge machete, and when I asked, he explained that the GIs would have had a much smaller knife. The rice cooker stopped me -- I'm not sure where the rice is supposed to come from, but monkey or snake meat, no problem, and.l was told, even the occasional escaped chicken turned wild. Then he took us out on the trail and showed us the rattan plant, the new shoots of which are chewed to fight malaria. Then there is the Tarzan vine, which can be used to sooth insect bites, and even create soap. Glycerin, I suppose? The water bamboo is different from regular bamboo, and we drank water from it, which was a much needed pick-me-up after our hike through the jungle in tropical temperatures. Our trip back to Manila followed the route of the Bataan death march, with kilometer markers along to measure the way. A very evocative memorial is now, I am sorry to say, lost in the middle of a traffic circle. But my sense is that the Filipinos don't need reminders of those days. Dan says that his father was on the death march but fell away and into the jungle and joined the guerrilla forces. And we had been wondering why the Filipinos seem to have no respect for Koreans. At least one answer, I have learned, is that it is Korean mercenaries working for the Japanese who committed incredible brutalities against civilians in the opening days of the Philippine campaign in WWII. Some events can never be erased.
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