Member-only story
The Otherworldly Environment Of New Guinea’s Ghost Mountain
And America’s first true offensive in the Pacific
In October 1942, the US Army 32nd Division was ordered to make one of the most harrowing marches in American military history. In order to help relieve the Australians fighting on the Kokoda Trail in New Guinea, the 32nd was told to make a flanking maneuver on the retreating Japanese forces. Earlier, the Japanese forces had run out of supplies while approaching the key base of Port Moresby. The Japanese decided to retreat northward toward the opposite coast through the formidable Owen Stanley Range. These actions set off some of the worst conditions for individual soldiers during the war.
Instead of trekking up the difficult but well-traversed Kokoda Trail, the 32nd Division was ordered to take the Kapa Kapa Trail. This track was steep and cut through some of the thickest jungles in the world. The men forced to endure these conditions found themselves exhausted, covered in leeches, and suffering from malaria and jungle rot. By the time the men reached their rendezvous on the other side of the mountains, the jungle had done more damage than the Japanese.
During the long walk (130 miles) through the jungles, ravines, mountains, and streams, the men of the 32nd Division came across one of the eeriest places they…
