One of the many things that has always amazed me when I’ve interviewed veterans, is the vastly different experiences they were often exposed to because of their service in comparison to those they grew up with. It could be a different environment or climate, a new group of people or culture, or certainly just being in the middle of a war zone. Many of these experiences had to be incomprehensible at the time. Cameron Divis and his experiences are a prime example of this.
Cameron was raised on a farm outside of Burlington, on the dry plains of Colorado. Like many of his generation, he had never traveled all too far from the farm and really knew little of what it was like outside his local area. When WWII broke out, Cameron enlisted in the Navy and would have an adventure only found in a fictional book from the town library.
After boot camp, an experience within itself, Cameron shipped out for the South Pacific. Going to sea for a landlocked Colorado farm boy must have been something else. Landing in New Guinea, he was stationed on an island off the coast. Raised on the arid plains, he now found himself on a hot, humid and lush jungle island. He had an experience on the island that even today would make a person’s head explode (no pun intended) thinking about it.
While driving a jeep down a dirt road one day, a native suddenly popped out of the vegetation. Cameron slammed on the brakes and he and his buddy stared at the man. What is that he’s holding? Is that a head? They had come across a headhunter! Cameron put his pistol in his lap. His buddy, who happened to have his camera, snapped a picture and they got out of there.
~ Brad Hoopes is preserving the stories of veterans. http://www.rememberandhonor.com/ For more veterans’ stories visit www.rememberandhonor.com for the recent book, “Reflections of Our Gentle Warriors”