August 19th

With any glorious sunrise, optimism abounds when plowing a mirror-like tropical lagoon for what I had hoped would be THE day that I have been hoping for. After fourteen plus years, I had found the exact location Amelia Earhart researcher Joe Gervias and his contemporary researcher, Charlie Hill, had both adamantly claimed that the remains of the passengers and crew of the ill-fated Hawaii Clipper lay. That was the hard part. The easy part would be to excavate the site and respectfully identify the remains. August 19th proved those two efforts would be swapped 180 degrees. The location was found fairly early on this third expedition, however the the site remains a mystery. After much reflection, I have come to two conclusions:

1. The human remains are still on this site but in a location not within the area that we searched. I would have liked to demolish the home and excavate the entire site but was limited in the effort due to my budget and time allowance.

or

2. The remains were never there and the story is false. I learned today that one of the people that lead Joe Gervais to the site was known as “98%”… meaning ninety-eight percent of what he told was a lie. So, did he actually help bury the 15 Americans? Did he just speak of a story he had heard of 15 Americans and point to an arbitrary location and say “they are there?” At this point, I don’t know anything for sure, except we destroyed the floors of a person’s home and now will spend a few days to repair it.

So now I leave Truk Lagoon with fellow filmmaker, Jeff Riegel, much the same way we came: perplexed. Are the bodies of those 15 men here? I can only say, perhaps. The only way to definitively know is to return with a much larger budget to excavate the entire site. We have fostered excellent good-will with the local villagers and made strong bonds that ended with an invitation to return if more information is discovered.

Until then, we will now turn to taking all the interviews and new footage to create a documentary that will tell the story of a group of people that I had never met but certainly changed my life.

image

5 Comments Add yours

  1. Thank you Guy for every thing you have done and are doing. I believe god choose you to make this wrong a right. I don’t believe god makes mistakes. Thank you again from the Limon & Sauceda family. ( Jose Maria Limon Sauceda – missing pilot family )

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Lilinoe says:

    Well done or BRAVO ZULU as they say in the Naval Service!

    Like

  3. Nancy Puetz says:

    BRAVO Guy…Excellent work!

    *Kindest Regards,* *Nan* “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”

    Like

  4. S. Testa says:

    I think you did great things with with story and event. If you would have told me 10 years ago, when I first assisted you in your research, that in 2014 you would have found the slab and dug up the area that has always been at the heart of the story, I would not have believed it. Like all great researchers and scientists, there are a chain of people in the process that lead to any amazing results. You and your team are a link in the story that either you can continue to pursue or pass the torch to the next researcher. One President said, “The greatest sadness is traveling through life knowing neither victory nor defeat”. In the final analysis you were victorious. Best wishes and safe travels.

    ST

    Like

  5. Curt Kowalski says:

    You have learned and uncovered so very much about this fateful group Guy. If in the end the remains are not found by your efforts, one day someone will follow in your footsteps, be grateful and benefit by all the work you have done to pave the way to the ultimate answer. History and the mystery go on. I say, “well done my friend.”

    Like

Leave a comment