Not far from Ten House, a footbridge has been thrown across the swamp. There Kozuka encounters a piece of chewing gum stuck to the underside of one o… - Werner Herzog

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Not far from Ten House, a footbridge has been thrown across the swamp. There Kozuka encounters a piece of chewing gum stuck to the underside of one of the bamboo poles used as bridge rails. The chewing gum is used. The question is: Has a local stuck the piece of gum there, or was it a GI? Onoda and his men know that Filipino villagers don't chew gum-that would be highly improbable. But they have observed that this vice is common among American soldiers. So are there American soldiers still stationed on Lubang? How long has the piece of gum been there? Days? Months? How does gum behave when exposed to tropical conditions? On closer inspection, and with a little imagination, it is possible to see the imprint of a molar, and beside it that of another tooth, slightly deformed. Everything suggests a wisdom tooth, but do Americans have wisdom teeth? Are they at all like other men? Are their voices not louder than those of the normal run of human beings? And is it perhaps conceivable that the gum was deliberately placed there, to mislead the guerrilla fighters? What to do? Akatsu is inclined to try chewing it to gain a sense of what this gum is like. What does it feel like, to be chewing gum? What do Americans feel — if, that is, they are even capable of feeling? Onoda orders the gum to be left exactly where they found it.