Amelia

By A.J. Llewellyn

I have always been fascinated by Amelia Earhart. I didn't know too much about her growing up in Australia, until I attended school here, Her mysterious disappearance remained hot classroom fodder, along with such enduring myths as D.B. Cooper.
In my school, the enduring myth was Australia's Prime Minister Harold Holt, who took off swimming at Cheviot Beach in the state of Victoria one day.
And vanished.
Over the years, enterprising documentarians have compiled both ludicrous and credible versions on the great, late leader's fate.
Like Amelia Earhart, the Japanese were a great source of speculation. Both are said to have been held by them in tortuous captivity.
There was even an outrageous book published that stated - without a shred of proof - that Prime Minister Holt was a spy for the Chinese government.
A few days ago I watched a documentary about Amelia. A young man has a piece of a plane engine that could possibly belong to her. He lives in Hawaii and found it in his late mother's possessions. He's willingly turned it over for further testing.
Now comes the news that Amelia may have crashed on Nikumaroro Island, [formerly Gardner Island] 1,800 miles south of Hawaii.There are no specifics, but evidently something - or some things - possibly belonging to her were found with the remains of a castaway who died there.
I can't wait. I want the speculation to end. I want to know she wasn't abducted and tortured. I want to know the truth.
I used to feel that way about Harold Holt. His mystery haunts me because I went to Cheviot Beach some years ago and encountered other Aussies there who were there for the same reason. We wanted to get a feel for the place he chose to come to for a swim. People saw him in the ocean, the witnesses, all now long dead, claim to have seen him disappear beneath choppy waves.
I want to know why one of the most intriguing leaders of modern Australia disappeared.
History shows he made a disastrous decision in supporting America by sending Australian men to Vietnam, via the draft.
We lost our precious men and boys in a war that had nothing to do with us. We still send soldiers, albeit without the draft now, to support America in all its wars, but Vietnam remains a sore spot in our past.
But I cannot and will not believe our Prime Minister was a spy.
I believe it was a tragic accident, just like Amelia's vanishing.
I just wish God had given them a chance to fulfill their destinies.
Prime Minister Holt was a good and courageous man who fought for the Aboriginal population of Australia to be equals. He abolished the racist White Australia policy.
What would he have accomplished, had he not drowned in the middle of his term?
What would Amelia have done had she survived her round-the-world flight?
These I guess, are the real mysteries.
What about you? Which life mysteries haunt you the most?

Aloha oe,
A.J.