Gremlin Special Research Paper

On May 13, 1945, twenty-four officers and enlisted men and women stationed on what was then Dutch New Guinea boarded a transport plane named the Gremlin Special for a sightseeing trip over "Shangri-La." A beautiful and mysterious valley surrounded by steep, jagged mountain peaks deep within the island's uncharted jungle. Then, all of a sudden, the plane goes out of control and crashes with only 5 people, 2 men and 3 women surviving the crash. 2 of the 3 women later died due to their wounds being too great, now Lt. John McCollum, Cpl. Margaret Hastings, and Sgt. Kenneth Decker must fight for survival in the jungle of Shangri-La. Emotionally devastated, badly injured, and vulnerable to disease, parasites, and poisonous snakes in the wet jungle

climate, the trio faced certain death unless they left the wreckage. Caught between man-eating headhunters and the enemy Japanese, with nothing to sustain them but a handful of candy and their own fortitude, they endured a harrowing trek down the mountainside - an exhausting journey into the unknown that would lead them straight into a primitive tribe of superstitious natives who had never before seen a white man - or woman.

Theme: The overall theme of the book would be survival because of the 3 survivors of the crash as their survival instincts kick in later on as they wander throughout the jungle.
“I’ve never had to do anything like this, but it came to me that I had to do whatever it took.” Pg. 120
“We had to feed hungry snakes our own dead people, to keep them from feasting on us.” Pg. 134
“I then began to realize with actual cannibals in the land, that the only person who’s going to save me now is myself.” Pg. 432
All of these quotes prove that the 3 survivors were indeed in survival mode while they were in the jungle.