Father and Son Who Fled Vietnam War Found Living in Jungle 42 Years Later

The Vietnam War ended 38 years ago. This week, two men were found still hiding in the jungle.

Authorities in Vietnam located the father and son after an extensive search through the Vietnam jungle and transported them to receive much needed medical care. The father had to be carried out in a hammock as he was too weak to walk.

Ho Van Thahn fled into the jungle with his 1-year old son in 1971, after a bomb blew up his house, killing his wife and two older sons. Since then, they have been living in fear of someone finding them.

The father, now 82, and the son had been living in a treehouse made of sticks and had a field on which they grew tobacco and sugarcane in the jungle of the Quang Ngai province. They made pants from dried bark and even crafted axes, knives and arrows for hunting. They've both forgotten the mainstream language, Kinh.

When another one of his sons, Ho Van Tri — who was born on the day of the bombing and rescued by a relative — tracked the two men down in the deep jungle 20 years ago, they refused to go with him. Their overwhelming fear caused them to hide at the sight of other people, and nothing could persuade them to leave their hideout.

Thahn and his son Ho Van Loan are currently being nursed back to health and likely in no time will be brought up to speed on modern-day history.