Secrets of the Dead

Airmen And The Headhunters

This program investigates a fantastic WWII tale of jungle ambushes, extreme engineering, blow darts defenses, and enemy headhunting. In 1945, an American B24 bomber is shot down over Japanese -- controlled Borneo. The airmen bail out and survive, only to find themselves isolated and lost in the impenetrable jungle. Briefed to fear the "savage" Dayak inhabitants, the Americans are instead taken in by these tribes and become witness to a compassionate, resourceful people who shatter stereotypes, protect them from the Japanese, and eventually deliver them safely into the hands of an eccentric British Major who orchestrates their rescue by building a bamboo runway deep in the Borneo interior.