Tales as high as the Andes and as colorful as the stories of WH Hudson emerge today from USO reports on his work in the jungles of Central and South America. With the lifting of wartime restrictions, the story of the USO’s vast network of outpost services for men stationed in isolated locations from Guatemala to Peru can be told. By plane and emergency boat, by tuna boat and converted private yacht, its frontline workers have traveled thousands of miles a month to bring information, recreation and a breath of America to men hungry for souvenirs of civilian life.
Throughout the war years, the USO, at the request of the Army, conducted a kind of “triple threat game” at these jungle outposts, teaching the men how to recognize and avoid dangerous reptiles and other dangers. of life in the jungle, organizing jungle trips to capture remarkable species of wildlife and demonstrate hobbies that make use of crocodile skins and other animals and plants indigenous to various regions. An important part of their work was also in the pure entertainment they could offer, through live talent shows, dances, and radio and theater programs. Perhaps the most practical and valuable has been the Jungleology program conducted by Stanley M. Hamilton, Director of the USO Atlantic Outpost Service, and Clarence H. MacDonald, Director of the USO Pacific Coast Outpost Service. the USO, with the active operation of Kenneth W. Winton, Professor of Science at Balboa (Canal Zone) Junior College and jungle expert. ‘
“When we don’t fly,” wrote Mr. MacDonald, “we pack our specimens in an old truck and head out to available air force positions by road and adjacent to Panama. We carry bottled specimens of most venomous snakes, insects, and plants that can harm the military. We also carry some boa constrictors. These are a great help in breaking down phobias and superstitions about nature. It is interesting to see the lifelong horror of the military to snakes, spiders, scorpions, etc. . , they collapse within an hour of speaking directly about the environment they now live in, the jungles.”
On a plane trip to the Galapagos archipelago off the coast of South America, Mr. MacDonald took a cage of snakes with him. Just as the plane was about to take off, two startled colonels came face to face with the reptiles, who were staring in ophidian fascination at their silver eagles. The officers wanted to know what was going on. As Mr. MacDonald explained, the appeased colonels used the top of the snake cage for a card game that lasted 800 miles. At the next Jungleology conference they were both in the front row.