During the Vietnam War, conscripts were sent as soldiers to Vietnam. Teachers could be sent to work in schools in Papua New Guinea in the rank of sergeant.
In the 1960s, there was a group of conscripts who decided to trek Mt Wilhelm. On the trek up the mountain, one of the Australians decided he could not go on as he was sick.
So the team leader decided that if the trekker waited on the track, he could be picked up on the way back.
Some time later, the trekkers returned but could not find the trekker waiting for them at the designated spot. He was never found alive or dead,
There was a bad mistake there. Had I been trek leader, I would have detailed a porter or two to wait with him and all to walk back to the nearest village or hut down the track. More serious illness may require the trek to be abandoned.
The fate of the young man remains a mystery. Did he suffer foul play or lose himself on a side track?
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