by Rick Badman

Created on: August 29, 2010

THE LOST SQUADRON

"I'm telling you, they looked like soldiers from WW II," said the young man to a friend in the tour group.  The tour guide had said people claimed to see what was known as the Lost Squadron on that Pacific island.  But most people thought it was a colorful story to entertain the tourists. 

"In fact, I think one of the men was my grandfather.  At least he looked like the pictures Grandma used to show me when I was a kid."

"Where did you see the soldiers?" his friend asked to humor him. 

"When we stopped for a bathroom break I was walking down a trail and caught a glimpse of them about 150 yards away.  I think my grandfather even looked at me."

"You look at too much TV."

After the tour was over for the day and the people returned to the hotel, the pair drove out to where the young man supposedly saw the soldiers.  It was getting toward evening, so they didn't have time to waste. 

The pair walked down the trail and was approached by some locals who didn't look too friendly.  They pointed weapons at the pair and demanded money from them.  That was when a shot rang out and the leader of the gang dropped to the ground.  The other gang members glanced around the area and one-by-one they were dropped until only the two friends remained. 

Off in the distance, soldiers were seen with one of them who looked like the grandfather of one of the men waving at them.  The pair waved back moments before the soldiers marched on into the jungle. 

The pair ran to where the soldiers had been and found boot prints and 45 caliber shell casings on the ground that had been ejected by M-1 carbines.  The pair picked up the casings and were excited that the story of the lost squadron was true.  But by the time the men returned to the hotel, the shell casings had aged at least 65 years and were nearly rusted away. 

At least the men were alive thanks to phantom soldiers that would forever march into the jungle on an island that didn't have a name. 

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