The people of Vietnam suffered through war from 1955 to 1975, but for one man, the war took much longer to end. Ho Van Thanh was a soldier for more than 15 years. One terrible day, a mine exploded and killed his wife and two of his sons and completely destroyed his home.
In a panic, Thanh grabbed his two-year-old son, Ho Van Lang, and fled deep into the jungle where he planned to live until the war ended. Just two years later, the war did end, but Ho and his son had no way of hearing the news. The two of them ended up living in the jungle for more than forty years, believing that the war was still raging on.
Thanh entered the jungle when he was just 42, and his son was two. By the time they were found, he was an 82-year-old man, and his son was middle-aged.
Local people searching for wood deep in the forest found Thanh and his son living in a treehouse twenty feet in the air. Thanh, who had been a well-known blacksmith in his village, had made several arrows and other hunting tools. When they were found, they were wearing loincloths made of tree bark. They survived by hunting, growing forest vegetables, and planting corn.
Even though neither of the men remembered much of the local language, they kept a few mementos of their old lives in their treehouse. The father’s military pants were neatly folded, and beside them sat the little red coat his son was wearing when they fled.
Because Thanh was in poor health, he was carried out of the jungle on a stretcher with his son Lang at his side. Their arrival shocked the townspeople because many thought they had died years ago.
Once they were in the town, Thanh and Lang suffered from reverse culture shock. Thanh refused to eat, and both men tried to escape back into the jungle. Relatives tried to keep them in town because they were worried about Thanh’s health. “We know he wants to escape my house to go back to the forest, so we have to keep an eye on him now,” says his nephew.
Fast forward a year-and-a-half to 2015, and Lang is adjusting. Having lived alone for so long with a father who rarely talked, he still has trouble communicating. But modern comforts and vices such as TV, cell phones, and cigarettes have won him over. His father, on the other hand, still wants to return to the forest.
Update: Ho Van Thanh died at the age of 82 in 2017. Ho Van Lang died of liver cancer in 2021 at the age of 52. His friend, Alvaro Cerezo, told the Mercury press that returning to civilization and eating processed foods contributed to his death. “I was always concerned that he and his body wouldn’t be able to handle such a drastic change.”
References:
https://nypost.com/2021/09/13/vietnams-real-life-tarzan-ho-van-lang-dies-of-cancer-at-52/
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/08/09/210477419/father-and-son-coaxed-from-jungle-40-years-after-vietnam-war
The people of Vietnam were at war from 1955 to 1975. For one man, the war took much longer to end. Ho Van Thanh was a soldier for more than 15 years. One terrible day, a bomb destroyed his home. It also killed his wife and two of his sons.
Thanh took his two-year-old son, Ho Van Lang, and ran deep into the jungle. Just two years later, the war ended. Thanh and his son had no way of hearing the news. The two of them ended up living in the jungle for more than forty years. They thought the war was still happening.
Thanh entered the jungle when he was just 42, and his son was two. By the time they were found, he was an 82-year-old man, and his son was middle-aged.
Local people found Thanh and his son living in a treehouse twenty feet in the air. They were wearing clothes made of tree bark. They survived by hunting, growing forest vegetables, and planting corn.
Because Thanh was in poor health, he was carried out of the jungle with his son Lang at his side. When their family saw them return they couldn’t believe it. They thought they had died during the war.
Once they were in the town, Thanh and Lang had reverse culture shock. Thanh would not eat, and both men tried to run away back into the jungle. Their family tried to keep them in town. “We know he wants to escape my house to go back to the forest, so we have to keep an eye on him now,” says his nephew.
Fast forward a year-and-a-half to 2015, and Lang is adjusting. His father rarely talked, so he still has trouble communicating. But modern comforts such as TV, cell phones, and cigarettes have won him over. His father, on the other hand, still wants to return to the forest.
Update: Ho Van Thanh died at the age of 82 in 2017. Ho Van Lang died of liver cancer in 2021 at the age of 52. His friend, Alvaro Cerezo, told the Mercury press that returning to civilization and eating processed foods contributed to his death. “I was always concerned that he and his body wouldn’t be able to handle such a drastic change.”
References:
https://nypost.com/2021/09/13/vietnams-real-life-tarzan-ho-van-lang-dies-of-cancer-at-52/
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/08/09/210477419/father-and-son-coaxed-from-jungle-40-years-after-vietnam-war
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