[Update Below] You may have heard the stories of Japanese troops, hiding on on small, secluded Pacific islands, unaware that World War II had ended. A similar situation played out this month in Quang Ngai where 2 men, scared by war, fled to the vast depths of the province’s remote jungles.
Earlier this month, villagers in Tay Tra District observed two men deep in the forest. Surprised by their behavior and dress, locals reported the sighting to authorities who set up a search team and found the pair five hours later.
Ho Van Thanh, 82, brought his son, Ho Van Lang, 42, to the jungle during the American War after a mine explosion killed his mother and two of his three children.
In their time in the Jungle, the men lived off of fruits, manioc and corn, using tree bark to make loincloths. Living completely secluded in their tree house for 40 years, Thanh and Lang are now only able to speak a little of their native tongue.
After investigating the men’s identity, agencies said that they once lived a normal life in the commune’s Tra Kem Hamlet 40 years ago.
The district authorities have instructed the local health agency to conduct medical check-ups for the father and son as they are re-integrated into society.
Update 1: 8/12: Not surprisingly, the men have found it difficult adjusting to their new surroundings, "They still feel frightened despite being taken to an isolated area," Le Van Vuong, vice chairman of Tra Xinh Commune, told DTI News.
"People who just come to stare at them bothered them the most. They do not know how to speak the Kinh people’s language. They just know a few words of Cor ethnic minority people's language and use body language to express themselves.”
This slideshow shows some of the tools the duo relied on while living in the jungle including a hammer fashioned with shrapnel, handmade knives with iron blades scavenged from the jungle, loincloths woven from tree bark and bamboo storage containers to keep rice dry.
[Tuoi Tre]
Update 2: 8/19
Well, the 'Jungle Men' won't be returning home any time soon.
After earning a bad reputation for exploiting his 'wild' relatives, Ho Van Lam said that he has burned down the men's tree house.
According to Thanh Nien, Lam had been charging reporters millions of dong to take them into the forest to see his relative's dwellings, reportadly charging VND4 million per trip in addition to VND 500,000 - 1 million fees for interviews.
After getting a bad reputation around town for the charges, Lam told Tuoi Tre that that he got upset and burned down the house
“I took them [to the tree house] and demanded only a little money but reporters wrote too many bad things about me. “Upset, I burned it down so that no one will ever ask me to take them there,” he said.
He added that his family has been facing the stress of media coverage, caring for the men and the inability to farm while the fiasco is going on.
More sad news for the pair.
