A Pathfinder's War: An Extraordinary Tale of Surviving Over 100 Bomber Operations Against All Odds Book

This is a marvelous and uplifting narrative of downed American airmen (November 1944) who were saved by Dayak tribesmen in the wilds of the Borneo jungle.

Page 71 (my book) John Nelson

"The first part, when you leave the plane, is like stepping off of a porch. Next you hit the slipstream and then you realize what it is like being in a 150-mile-per-hour windstorm.'...Once he [John Nelson] recovered from the shock of his chute opening, he experienced "a moment of silence and loneliness such as I have never had before or since."

The airmen were fed and protected by the Dayak. There were still many Japanese troops on the island of Borneo - and they were known to torture and kill any American airmen. Without the generosity of the Dayak these American airmen would not have survived the jungle - an environment where they were totally helpless. The airmen came to admire, respect and love the Dayak.

But there is also the gruesomeness of war. The Dayak became ruthless to their Japanese occupiers (the title of "Headhunters" is not there for nothing).

This is a touching story of an inter-cultural meeting between two vastly different peoples. The Dayak thought nothing of aiding these downed airmen who had little to offer in return. The author brings out well the humanism of both of these two groups.

The entire world of the U.S. airmen was turned upside down when they parachuted into Borneo. The experience was something they would never forget and always carry with them.

Page 255

Dan Illerich was asked to speak at the Presbyterian church of Sacramento, which had sponsored the Boy Scout activities he had taken part in as a child. "They wanted to know if my Eagle Scout training had helped, and I said we hadn't known what to do. The food wasn't easy to find and it was not what we knew to eat. Finally, I said that if it had not been for the Dayaks we would not have survived. I think they were disappointed to hear that, but it's true." Dan, like Jim and all the others I spoke to, had come home with an enormous respect and liking for the Dayaks and a more questioning approach to Americans' implicit assumptions that everything we did was best.