World War II
Three downed U.S. Navy fliers landed on Pukapuka in February 1942. Harold Dixon, Gene Aldrich, and Tony Pastula survived 34 days on the open ocean in a tiny 4 by 8 foot (1.2 by 2.4 m) raft, beginning their odyssey with no food or water stores and very few tools. Shortly after their arrival a typhoon struck the island. Their story has been called "…unquestionably one of the most grueling and fantastic ordeals of World War II."
Read more about this topic: Pukapuka
Famous quotes containing the words world and/or war:
“Is it possible, after all, that spite of bricks and shaven faces, this world we live in is brimmed with wonders, and I and all mankind, beneath our garbs of common-placeness, conceal enigmas that the stars themselves, and perhaps the highest seraphim can not resolve?”
—Herman Melville (18191891)
“You say it is the good cause that hallows even war? I say unto you: it is the good war that hallows any cause.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (18441900)