DATELINE: December 31, 2011
SUCCESS! Your contribution has enabled me to return to the island in February 2012 (visited previously in 2009) and use Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to localize the 15 bodies for DNA identification. After the suspected site is processed, the bodies will be recognized by the US Government for return to the United States (they will not intervene until a positive site ID is completed). All funds raised will be used only for transportation (from the US to Micronesia and inter-island boat fees and costs associated with hiring local labor).
THANK YOU for your consideration and support.
Warm regards,
Guy
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DATELINE: August 20, 2011
For the past six months, I have been interviewing people who all have significant insight into the mysterious disappearance of the Pan Am Hawaii Clipper. The greatest source of detail has actually come in the shape of antique books written between 1936 and 1942. It is their name, places and dates have been discovered have proven to be a valuable anchor in learning more about the details of that era.
DATELINE: August 21, 2011
Sunday draws to a close and I find myself frustrated of the general lack of imagery of the passengers and crew available. If a reader happens to know of any photos (I have some but they are not that great in quality) of Mark “Tex” Walker, George M. Davis, William McGarty, John W. Jewett, Howard L. Cox, T. B. Tatum, Dr. Earl B. McKinley, Dr. Fred C. Meier, Kenneth A Kennedy, Wah-Sun “Watson” Choy. Any thoughts, advice or assistance is greatly appreciated.
DATELINE: August 26, 2011
It’s Official! This week, we made an agreement to utilize a new ground penetrating radar system on the concrete slab. I will be undergoing training at the GPR facility and then later this fall, the journey back to the islands is on.
DATELINE: September 7, 2011
This week I will be travel to two locations and conduct video interviews for the documentary & book. Additionally, I have hired an archivist to dive into a treasure trove of over 3 million photographs that could yield the best imagery to date of the passengers and crew of the Hawaii Clipper. Wish us luck!
DATELINE: September 8, 2011
Success! I have found some long-lost photos of the passengers and crew of the Hawaii Clipper! These will make a wonderful addition to the growing body of photographs and information being prepared for the book.
DATELINE: September 15, 2011
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit and interview the child (now senior citizen) whose parent was aboard the vanished Hawaii Clipper. To say it was an illuminating experience would do it no justice. I learned more than I believe has ever been publicly disclosed, especially on camera. I am grateful to all those that assisted and participated in the documentary taping. More to come soon.
DATELINE: September 20, 2011
Digging a bit further into a book about FDR, I came across a curious story about Vincent Astor, Amelia Earhart and others that were funded via ** ******* *** Bank to conduct “Unofficial” surveillance of the Japanese Mandate Islands in the late 1930s. This is a great moment in understanding why some players in this Pacific chess game of espionage were located in strategic locations at specific times. More to come!
DATELINE: September 26, 2011
Today is a huge day. Working with an archivist, we have discovered 37 antique photos that I will soon post on this site once they have been scanned. For anyone interested in this blog, I hope the discovery will be worth the wait. Thank you to all that have contacted me thru this blog as your wisdom and advice have proven fruitful.
DATELINE: September 27, 2011
As promised, the following are some images that you will only find on www.lostclipper. Thanks to all that helped them survive thru the years.
DATELINE: October 11, 2011
Last week was great in that folks are finding long lost images of the Hawaii Clipper and her passengers & crew. THANK YOU for that! I can’t tell you enough how significant each and very new piece of this puzzle is and that together, we all can help each other solve the mystery once and for all. Attached are some of the latest “discoveries” made by our new family of researchers here on LostClipper.com!
SPECIAL shout-out to Lee Sherman and Craig Giacometti for finding and scanning this original print. Here we see the Hawaii Clipper in her 1937 configuration (most likely in Alameda, CA) undergoing maintenance.
DATELINE: October 21, 2011
TGIF. It’s been a long couple of weeks working out a few details of my next Pacific trip. However, things have shaped up and the icing on the cake has been the addition of a new set of images (almost doubles my personal library of the Hawaii Clipper and is passengers / crew). Thanks again for all the folks that have reached out to me and offered valuable insight, information and photographs; without you this effort would not be nearly as complete as you have all made it. We are, indeed, a family working together to make this project a successful effort. Have a great weekend!
DATELINE: October 22, 2011
Late additions to the archive. One is a tin lapel pin in the shape of a Martin M-130 Flying Boat, a post card and a few other artifacts. Enjoy!
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DATELINE: November 7, 2011
A multi-talented group of explorers are sighing on for what could be an exciting visit to Micronesia in the coming months. From areal reconnoissance and underwater cinematography to interviews in Japan, a really nice a solid body of evidence with a dash of intrigue will certainly add the flavor of story I’ve been hunting for. Thanks for sticking with us!
DATELINE: December 1, 2011
Well, for all of those of you who have asked to help but now sure how, here is your chance!! Check out this new website:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/203251273/hunt-for-the-lost-clipper
Thanks!!
DATELINE: December 12, 2011
Just got back from a trip to Ohio and visited the Wright-Patterson Air Force base to interview a world war II engine specialist in reverse engineering. Here are some of the photos of our research. Thanks Julie for your amazing work!!!!
DATELINE: December 15, 2011
A small collage of photos while researching a similar engine used on the Hawaii Clipper. Thank you again to all at Wright-Patt!!
DATELINE: January 2, 2012
Happy New Year!
Thanks so much for all your thoughts, words of wisdom and wonderful advice. We were successful in meeting the $3,600 goal to finance the return to Micronesia. However this time, I am going back with GPR equipment, a multitude of maps and a lot clearer picture of the location of the passengers and crew of the Hawaii Clipper. I am certain this journey will finally deliver the answers we all have been seeking.
Stay tuned, the journey has begun. Let’s go hunting!
DATELINE: January 15, 2012
Exciting news! A friend of mine that also happens to be an amazing artist has designed a “rough” conceptual poster for the project. He may call it a rough but I think it looks pretty darn amazing. He well do a few tweeks next week but for now, I wanted to share it with you all.
I’ll be happy to pass on any comments yoiu might have. Also, last week I compeletd GPR (Ground Penetraiting Radar) training with the unit I will be bringing to Truk Lagoon. A few photos are attached.
DATELINE: January 20, 2012
This was a very good week for finding accurate photography of our research targets. Shown here, this image was recovered from the National Archives in Washington DC just yesterday depicting an Imperial Japanese Navy Hospital in Truk Lagoon soon after the war ended. As you can see, it is in good shape and will be a prime candidate to start the ground evaluation in February. Thanks for everyone’s input!
Imperial Japanese Navy Hospital in Truk Lagoon
DATELINE: January 21, 2012
Superb !!! I wish you the very best of luck and commend & praise you for your
commitment to the pursuit of the answer to this amazing mystery. I wish I could
be there with you and very much wish I could have been in a position to help
with many other aspects of the project.
But I also feel so fortunate to have found you a year or so ago !!
God Speed
Thanks Ted Wyman
DATELINE: February 8, 2012
One week to go before heading back to Truk. I can tell you it has been an exciting yet foreboding time for me because what is literally at stake. Other than a GPR unit going missing in transit (and found), changes in travel plans, finances being altered and a host of there unforeseen circumstances, I still remain steadfast in pursuing this very worthy goal. Will I actually find these long lost flyers or have I wasted twelve years of my life looking for them? Is this a fantasy or shortly to become a reality? These and a thousand other thoughts race thru my mind as the clock ticks closer to Chuuk time. Stand by.. Engines are set to throttle up.
DATELINE: February 26, 2012
I write this entry from the island of Moen, just about a mile north of where the passengers and crew of the Hawaii Clipper lie entombed in a concrete slab. Being in the FSM for two weeks has been enlightening and frustrating at the same time. I say this because, although the local clansmen have been open and accommodating, their respect drivien nature (which can appear as being timid) and observance for tradition can make a request for information take days.
Traveling to and from the island of Tonoas, often in heavy seas, takes up to a hour and leaves me feeling beat up before I even set foot on dry land. Then it’s a hot and humid hike thru the dense forest to interact with a local villager that often has a look like who the heck are you and why are you standing on my property. Having a local guide will allow you to not only conduct a search but also keep your head on your shoulders because they do walk around with machetes (for clearing jungle, not cutting heads off). :-)
I have solved some mysteries and discovered new ones… not the way I had planned this to go. I examined multiple locations, scanned slab sites, and have only succeeded in ruling out slabs that do not have the entombed Americans. To be clear, I am highly disappointed at my inability to locate their final resting place but at the same time encouraged that I DO know where they are not. My friend Tony Johnson, who is working the locations with me, reminds me this is a process of ruling out places to identify what remains. I know he is correct but I still feel unsuccessful.
So, tonight I leave Truk Lagoon more informed, better educated, a treasure trove of new data but still unable to determine how far or near I actually walked next to their remains. I know deep in my gut, that I am a stones throw from the slab, however the seventy-four years of tropical growth, the passage of time and loss of eye witnesses has become a huge barrier and only extra continued effort will solve this mystery. I leave this place believing more than ever before, that the missing passengers and crew of Pan Am trip 229 could hear my voice if they were able.
DATELINE: March 16, 2012
Time has certainly flown since my last post and I’m sincerely sorry for the delay. I thought I would bounce back quicker from the time change however it took me over a week to “get right.” Since that time, I have still had to do some traveling but soon, I will be able to get back to pouring over all the hours and hours of video footage shot in Micronesia. I plan to creat a short video montage of what I saw on this last trip and will post it on Sunday.
So the long and short of it is that I am still convinced the remains of the passengers and crew of the Hawaii Clipper are indeed on the island of Tonoas, but the jungle has really been aggressive in its takeover of all concrete slabs. The best part of this trip was to finally dispel a lot of hearsay and myths. For one example, I was led to believe there were few concrete slabs on the island due to cost and necessity of having such heavy foundations in a remote tropical location. Not true… Not by a long shot. There are a tremendous amount of slabs, tall, short, thick, thin, you name it, it’s there. Scanning some of those slabs was both difficult and arduous. However, a brand new approach to discovering the actual location was developed out of it and I am happy to say, will save us time and effort int he future. Joe Gervais and Charlie Hill, the two people who had really developed this research early on and had provided some materials actually missed quite a lot. I wish Joe was still around these days so I could ask him why he made mention of things that were seemingly not important while ignoring obvious facts. I understand he was actually looking for Amelia Earhart and not the clipper, however, I would have hoped that once he recognized the connection between Ron Jackson’s book China Clipper and his own in-person interviews; that he would have gone back and cleared up some of his research. Charlie Hill too,in his book “Fix on the Rising Sun” collaborated with Joe to push the theory even further however neither man ever went back to Truk Lagoon to validate the research. Charlie sadly and quite suddenly passed a couple years ago as did Joe some years earlier. Charlie said I was the last torch bearer… I sincerely hope not. Time has been my enemy and as the days turn into months and years, even the most vivid memories fades to shades of gray. Stay tuned, more to come soon!
DATELINE: March 18, 2012
As promised, a short video montage of my trip to Micronesia. THANK YOU to everyone that helped financially, materially and spiritually. You ALL are my foundation and strength. A LOT more is on the way!
