War Photographer

A few more photos from the big search last week (or was it two weeks ago?) We never found the lost man, despite three days of searching. Generally the fire department, police, and volunteer fire brigade spend three days, and if the family asks for more, we would spend longer. In this case, the lost man was 75, and the general belief was that he had already passed on.

While there are some steep slopes out there, this guy had been coming there to pick bamboo shoots for years, and so he knew what he was doing. It would have been difficult to get lost as well, considering that simply climbing a short mountain gives one views of obvious landmarks (an abandoned ranch) that would have led him back to his car.

In the end, it seems a bit like it was more to show the family that we were trying, than it was to actually find the lost man. Even up until the last minute, the helicopter kept circling the same area it had searched for two days with no luck and the same area that 100+ grunts were searching on the ground.

There was one point where we found what might have been a plastic bag he had brought along to gather the bamboo shoots, the bamboo shoots in that area were the fastest and juiciest I have ever seen, and there were signs of harvested shoots from a few days earlier. We all climbed up a steep slope (picking bamboo shoots all along the way) and reached a ridge where we were told "This side is too steep and dangerous, so we will not search here". I understand the idea of keeping all the searchers safe, but if I were to go search for him again, that is the first place I would look!

All the while I was searching, I wondered what to do if I found the body, and once the search had finished, my neighbor told me what to do... pretend like you didn't see it and let the guy next to you find it. Apparently, the first person to find the body will be consumed with police reports and forms to fill out.

I feel a bit bad to say that it was "fun", but it was, and I think that that is also part of the point. For those members of the volunteer fire brigade who have their own business, taking an unexpected two days off can cause stress, but for those who are employed at more monotonous jobs that are less deadline based (store clerks, etc.), this could be seen as a welcome break from daily routine (most employers allow employees a day off for any volunteer fire-dpt. activities) to hang out with the guys and climb a mountain (and pick bamboo shoots). Also, after each day, everyone got together with the other volunteer fireman from their own hamlet and drank and ate until late - and there is nothing that the wife can complain about... I mean c'mon, we spent our day doing search and rescue!

On a side note... hopefully this is the closest I will ever get to being a war-photographer.