Resident of Truk from 1969-1983
Truk 1969
I was invited to go to Truk firstly in late 1969.
I had known about "Mysterous Truk" from stories I read right
after World War 2 had ended, and being interested firstly in aviation
had read everything I could find of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart
and Fred Noonan. I never met a Micronesian who knew anything first hand
about her, leading me to believe that the rumors she had crashed near
Pakin in the Ponape group were just rumors. One thing I did learn about
an aircraft crash was to ask, where's the engine(s)? In the water or
on the land, if the engine is left where it was, it serves as a mute
testimony to the fact that an aircraft has crashed somewhere in the
vicinity, unless it was at an airport as a spare, or something like
that. Even while diving off the north side of the runway (modern airport)
of Moen, I have seen engines in the water, too far from shore to have
been just rolled into the sea to get rid of them. (See? That's how I
learned about the American Navy wreck on Eninganimu-I was diving and
shooting fish and came upon the engine in the water. Then, I went to
shore and sure enough, there was a portion of the wing buried in the
sand. Later, I spoke with the family owner of the land, Risa, and learned
of his finding the plane and pilot remains after the war.
Guam
In 1971, I became seriously ill with some sort
of dysentery and lost 50 lbs in 6 months. I went to Guam for a diagnosis
and was told if I remained in Truk I would die, so I came back to Hawaii
for a month of recuperation. After that, I was going to return to Truk
where I had another job waiting, but upon arrival in Ponape enroute
to Truk, friends there advised me there was work in Kusaie and since
it was a much cleaner environment, it was likely I could live there
without a repeat of the illness.
Kusaie
I sailed deck passage on the old M/V (Merchant Vessel)
Kaselehlia and lived in Kusaie for a year or so. There I learned some
of the language and once again heard war stories. That's how I got the
tales from Freddie Edwin.
After a year in Kusaie, with work not being what I
thought it would be, I moved on, and returned to Ponape, where I lived
until 1973. It was during this time that I learned the details about
Ponape, climbing the long end of Sokehs Mountain once with Alfred Albert
to view all the barrack foundations, the searchlight emplacement and
those twin-barreled ack-ack guns. That's the one with the cabe control
and that little hole in the roof where a single bomb penetrated, destroying
the controls and rendering the guns useless.
Second Trip to Micronesia
From 1969-1973 I lived on first Truk, then Kusaie,
and finally Ponape. I left there in 1973 and went to live and work in
New York City until 1979, when I returned to Micronesia. This time,
I lived on Dublon Island for a year and then moved back to Moen Island
where I had started out in 1969. Upon leaving there, Meg and I went
up to Guam for a few months, and then returned to California in April,
1981. So ends.
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