Over 300 children were made to drink it, and syringes full of the mixture were emptied into infants’ mouths. Read more: See TIME’s original report on the massacre. By April of 1979, more than 300 bodies of those followers had been claimed by family members. All Rights Reserved. Toxicology reports found no traces of cyanide in his system, although they found potentially lethal levels of the drug Pentobarbital, a sedative sometimes used for euthanizing animals. Bodies from a mass suicide victims lie around the pavilion of People’s Temple in Jonestown, Guyana as an onlooker in gas mask stands by, Nov. 18, 1978. [ 144 ] Somewhere in my subconscious is a safety valve that spares me that. A more logical route would have been to check dental records. Not just trained mortuary staff but ancillary support staff. Of parents giving their children cyanide-laced punch before drinking from the poison-filled vats themselves. Jonestown bodies. More is understood about the people of Jonestown, that they were overwhelmingly victims. Tents were needed for food-service workers, administrative staff and a legion of typists. When Guyanese troops reached Jonestown the next morning, they discovered an eerie, silent vista, frozen in time and littered with bodies. Villagers look on as Capt. It was from those reports that Edwards and her colleagues found out just how much of a job they would have to do, and quickly. You can still see it's him, even when bloated. There were reports from survivors Odell Rhodes and Stanley Clayton that, as the deaths began – with the deaths of the children – their bodies were removed and placed gently on the ground, many of them face down. Authorities said that five, including cult leader Jim Jones, died of gunshot wounds. There may be a logical explanation for a higher percentage of the bodies being face down. Jonestown was different. Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple. Before decomposition it is clearly him. Some were angry the military was involved in recovering “fanatics’” bodies at all. In addition, whether Jones had been alive or dead as this stage-management occurred is likely irrelevant: he would likely not have participated in moving the bodies himself. There was a small pistol on his chest and a gunshot wound to his head. But Jonestown is never far away, she said. This site houses a variety of PDF documents. Now working in the Airman and Family Readiness Center, back then Edwards’ job was to manage logistics. To access these PDF files you must have the free Adobe Reader installed. To access these PDF files you must have the free, Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple. Finally, as with other aspects of the Jonestown deaths, there are conspiracy theories that the bodies were arranged in the hours or days afterwards by outside, sinister forces. People lie on the ground dead from being forced to commit suicide. The FBI reportedly checked his fingerprints twice, a seemingly futile gesture since it is a precise operation. These occurrences don’t negate the randomness of the overall event. The findings based on the recover effort at Jonestown and Dover — which are now posted on the Defense Technical Information Center website, a searchable database dedicated to aggregating military scientific and technological data — live on in articles, disaster recovery textbooks and military training guides. Less than a year later, most of them would be dead. Bodies of victims of Jonestown mass suicide are loaded from U.S. military helicopter at Georgetown's international airport. Jones staged fake faith healings to draw more people to his church and consolidate his power with only a small circle of trusted faithful. Even if they could have, no cemetery wanted the remains. The corpses, in body bags, will be transferred to shipping containers for the flight back to the U.S. Air Force crewmen at the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware unload a casket containing the body of the first Jonestown cult mass suicide victim to arrive in the United States. He was overweight anyway, had been all his life, so I don't think the bloating of his body in death made a lot of difference compared with … © 2021 Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple, Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple is a, This site houses a variety of PDF documents. Those bodies were taken to the base mortuary for identification and in some cases autopsy; the remains would eventually be stored on base in Hangar 1301. Of San Mateo Rep. Leo Ryan shot dead on an airstrip. Magazines, The U.S. Military Had to Clean Up After the Jonestown Massacre 40 Years Ago. The icon which characterizes Jonestown in the public mind is a picture of a galvanized metal vat, surrounded by bloated bodies. Many relatives couldn’t afford the military’s transport fees — nearly $500 — for a family to bring home a loved one for private burial. Gerry Gouveia, a commercial pilot, directs grass-clearing at the remote … With more bodies being found at the Jonestown mass suicide scene in Guyana, the military is being asked to ship more caskets to bring the bodies back to the U.S. Commemorative events are scheduled where survivors and family can gather and mourn. Recovery workers would later report that the staggering number of children they saw there was the most disturbing thing they encountered. Jim Jones had become a popular Pentecostal preacher in the 1960s, using a gospel of social justice and inclusion to attract followers to his San Francisco-based congregation, the People’s Temple. The people who could answer those questions definitively are dead, and any speculation as to the reasons is just that: speculation. The FBI reportedly checked his fingerprints twice, a seemingly futile gesture since it is a precise operation. A week after my departure I woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. At the time, Patricia Edwards had worked for seven years as a civilian employee at Dover AFB, where she still is until today. Here a volunteer airman uses steam mixed with chemicals to clean and disinfect a metal casket at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, for reuse again in Guyana. So was the emotional impact it would have on those left to deal with it. Somewhere in my subconscious is a safety valve that spares me that. Edwards notes that this was before computers, so every request had to be typed up and every person coming onto the base had to be processed and credentialed individually. Later on, he was dragged out onto the boardwalk to facilitate with an autopsy which was performed by Dr. Mootoo. The bodies that would need to be brought back totaled more than 900. I’d dreamed that I had walked into a room and encountered the bloated—but living—body of Jim Jones, seated on … Memories of the Rev. One explanation is that Jim Jones stage-managed the arrangements of the bodies in death, just as he stage-managed so many Temple events in its life. It may seem heartless or ghoulish to joke as hundreds lay dead before you but facing the largest such loss of civilian American lives pre-9/11, humor was just one form of self-preservation. © 2021 TIME USA, LLC. During the bloating stage some of his features can be made out. Jonestown. What the Crew Found Was 'Beyond Imagination'. A watch ticked on a dead man’s wrist. “I found out about Jonestown like everyone else did back then, through the media,” she said. JONESTOWN, GUYANA - NOVEMBER 18: (NO U.S. TABLOID SALES) The Reverend Jim Jones' bloated body lies on the ground (on planks) along with his followers after it was hastily sewn together after his autopsy by officials at the compound of the People's Temple cult November 18, 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana. Following the orders of their leader, Rev. Another man looking at the body joked, “I guess it sure does take a licking but keep on ticking!” Humor was critical in the situation. “What would normally take about two to three weeks had to be done in one,” Edwards said. Why were so many of the people found face down or in rows. Meanwhile, the bodies were continuing to rot in the tropical heat and humidity.The few journalists able to tour Jonestown yesterday found the bodies badly bloated and decomposing badly. Above all, the authors write, “the overpowering and unforgettable odor of just one body [are] beyond imagination.”. Over 900 members of the cult, commanded by Reverend Jim Jones, died from … When authorities reached the bodies bloated by the tropical heat, they discovered the majority of the dead were African-American women and children. “The stench.” She says, “I will never forget the stench.”. He began referring to himself as God. More than 900 people took their own lives at the Jonestown compound … One other inescapable thing stays with her. Magazines, Digital Over 900 members of the cult, commanded by Reverend Jim Jones, died from … The bodies were already bloated from the jungle's intense heat and humidity, even though Jones and his followers had been dead for barely a day. JONESTOWN, GUYANA - NOVEMBER 18: (NO U.S. TABLOID SALES) The Reverend Jim Jones' bloated body lies on the ground after it was hastily sewn together after his autopsy by officials November 18, 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana. “Can’t sleep,” reported one worker. This week, a new film marks the anniversary of the Jonestown tragedy with a special screening at the University of Southern California’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture. A member of the team sent to Jonestown by the Guyana Government surveys some of the hundreds of bodies of People's Temple followers who died following the murder of Congressman Leo Ryan and newsman on November 18. The fact is, those who died in Jonestown were real people, with families, friends, and loved ones. The word is enough to bring the memories flooding back. In short, when 900 bodies are randomly collected around a central area, one could expect to see some of them lined up as if in rows. All told, 918 people died that day. Arrayed in strangely uniform … And of the seemingly endless bodies bloating in the jungle heat. Nevertheless, this question does presuppose a follow-up: Did someone arrange the bodies into those positions, and if so, why? The Reverend Jim Jones' bloated body lies on the ground after it was hastily sewn together after his autopsy by officials on November 18, 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana. He later moved his followers to California. JONESTOWN, GUYANA - NOVEMBER 18: (NO U.S. TABLOID SALES) The Reverend Jim Jones' bloated body lies on the ground (on planks) along with his followers after it was hastily sewn together after his autopsy by officials at the compound of the People's Temple cult November 18, 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana. The experience of dealing with the bodies shared by people working at the base, in the mortuary and the tent city created an extended family, and that feeling endures too. The magnitude of the situation was still unknown — and grossly underestimated. See more ideas about jonestown, jonestown massacre, crime scene photos. It involved the deaths of civilians and demanded the involvement of a cross-section of workers, from doctors and pathologists to typists and the yeomen who cleaned the transport containers. On November 18, 1978 over 900 members of the People's Temple Cult led by Reverend Jim Jones died from drinking cyanide-laced Kool Aid; they were victims of the largest … A group of photographers and police officers stand in the background. Body at left on the steps of the building is believed to be that of cult leader Jim Jones and that of the woman lying face up in dark slacks in foreground believed to be Jone’s wife. Most, however, died of cyanide poisoning. When they arrived, they were greeted by the apocalyptic site of hundreds of bloated, decomposing bodies spread out on the grass around a group of flimsy, makeshift buildings. This image dehumanizes the victims, however, and disconnects us from the tragedy. Jim Jones, over 900 members of the cult, including children, died, most by ingesting a cyanide-laced drink. The spiritual journey of Jim Jones would end in a remote jungle compound littered with bloated bodies. I’d dreamed that I had walked into a room and encountered the bloated—but living—body of Jim Jones, seated on … The body and face are not clearly recognizable due to bloating and discoloration. Eventually, a cemetery in Oakland, across the bay from the Temple’s former home in San Francisco, agreed to inter the remains of hundreds of the Jonestown dead. New film focuses on African-American women in Jonestown deaths (RNS) Thirty-eight years ago this week, more than 900 people died, most of them by 'revolutionary suicide,' at Jonestown… A week after my departure I woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Basically, she said, a base within the base had to be assembled. It is now the Air Mobility and Command Museum, dedicated to the history of “airlifts and air refueling” the place where old airplanes go if they are lucky. Loaded with waterproof canvas body bags and coffin-like metal transport containers, U.S. military helicopters shuttled the dead and recovery personnel alike between Guyana’s capital and Jonestown, isolated deep in the jungle. Was it to create more room near the tables with the needle-less syringes and cups of poison and – later – the vat? Bodies bloat and change color and are infested by insects. But at Dover AFB, over 500 remained unclaimed and over 200 were decomposed past the point of identification. But the Guyanese government wanted no part in the burial, and families of the dead wanted their loved ones returned. Not so with Jonestown. And almost everything has changed at Dover. Since there were no surviving witnesses to the death scene in the hours immediately following the carnage of Jonestown, any answer to this question is speculative. The study was simple as there were no analogs to build from and a dearth of information on the emotional impact on recovery workers or “secondary disaster victims.” Its results, however, offer a glimpse at just how complex the issue is. The military was the only organization able to handle mass casualty recovery and Dover Air Force Base in Delaware was assigned receipt of the dead. The only remaining building from the Jonestown time period is Hangar 1301. A smattering of studies had been done by the military on nurses, for example, but the literature was sparse. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital Here is a NSFW photo of Jim Jones body taken by the GDF early on to prove that fact. And while Jones himself likely died as other adults were dying – and hence would not have arranged the bodies himself – the leaders of the Jonestown community who lived another several hours could have acted on his instructions to make the scene look peaceful. People lie on the ground dead from being forced to commit suicide. Some reported personal growth from the experience, one person realizing as human beings “you’ve got to give a damn.”, Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter. There is no doubt in the mind of Tim Carter – who left Jonestown with his brother Michael and with Temple publicist Mike Prokes, only to return two days later to help with body identification – that the relatively small number of bodies “in front of the radio room were very neatly arranged almost to military alignment… They were completely incongruent with the rest of the tableau.” The reason for the positioning is unknown, though, as is the reason that the positioning stopped: “Maybe someone realized they couldn’t move 900 bodies,” Carter added. Not so with Jonestown. “It is difficult to convey to someone,” the authors wrote in the preface of the study, “What a week in a tropical environment can do to a [dead] human body.”, The conditions at Jonestown were compounded by rain and staggering humidity. An unidentified man a strap onto a stack of aluminum coffins for shipment to the United States, following the more than 900 deaths in the mass suicide staged in Jonestown by members of the People's Temple and their leader, the Reverend Jim Jones, Georgetown, Guyana, Nov. 23, 1978. Members of a U.S. military team prepare aluminum coffins for shipment to the United States, following the more than 900 deaths in the mass suicide staged in Jonestown by members of the People's Temple and their leader, the Reverend Jim Jones, Georgetown, Guyana, Nov. 24, 1978. Roughly 900 corpses lay before the Guyanese state pathologist Dr. Leslie Mootoo, one of the first on the scene at Jonestown. And while Jones himself likely died as other adults were dying – and hence would not have arranged the bodies himself – the leaders of the Jonestown community who lived another several hours could have acted on his instructions to make the scene look peaceful. Later on, he was dragged out onto the boardwalk to facilitate with an autopsy which was performed by Dr. Mootoo. A review of all of the photos of the Jonestown dead reveals that there are bodies in all positions imaginable: people in stacks and people lying alone; people on their sides, their backs, and their fronts; people in rows of three or four (including the iconic photo of two adults with their arms draped around a child), people scattered, etc. A pile of paper cups with cyanide-laced fruit punch, and a pile of hypodermic syringes, found at Jonestown by Guyanese officials. The conditions at Jonestown were compounded by rain and staggering humidity. “I had to recruit individuals that would work in the mortuary environment and to make sure that there was enough staff and administrators to handle the Jonestown situation,” she told me. The corpses, in body bags, will be transferred to … The U.S. tried to have the bodies interred on site, offering to foot the bill for the Guyanese government. A tiny … On Nov. 18, 1978, one of the biggest American mass deaths took place in Jonestown, Guyana at the Peoples Temple compound. The base needed more people. Communities didn’t want to become pilgrimage sites for Jones’ remaining U.S. followers, and draw unwanted attention — and people — to their town. Eventually the Air Force did a study on the impact the recovery had on personnel military and civilians alike. On Nov. 18, 1978 — willingly or unwillingly — the followers of the charismatic Pentecostal leader Jim Jones drank cyanide-laced fruit punch. Hundreds of children and a US congressman died at Jonestown, and 911 decomposing bodies were brought to Dover Air Force Base, home to the … Bodies of victims of Jonestown mass suicide are loaded from U.S. military helicopter at Georgetown's international airport. On November 18, 1978, the residents of Jonestown committed mass suicide led by their leader Jim Jones. Society’s understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder was limited in 1978 and associated almost exclusively with wartime experiences, falling under the umbrella of what was often thought of as “shell shock.” Even less was known about the impact a mass casualty recovery mission would have on first responders. Over 900 … But in 1977, with a damning article about abuses within the Temple about to break, Jones and nearly a thousand of his followers fled to land the Temple had previously purchased in Guyana. On November 18, 1978, the village of Jonestown became the location of a shocking tragedy when 909 members of a cult, the Peoples Temple, died from cyanide poisoning at the direction of their leader, Jim Jones. Patricia Edwards is still there, assisting military families through Dover’s readiness and resilience program. Jones was a preacher who formed the Peoples Temple in Indiana in the 1950s. A … Respondents were asked if they had any exposure to human remains: none, saw bodies in containers with no odor, odor only, handled containers, handled body bags or handled human remains directly. Apr 19, 2019 - Explore Dallas Massa's board "Jonestown", followed by 127 people on Pinterest. The men and women said at the time that a joke, no matter how bad, helped break the tension of their overwhelming task: the recovery of hundreds of dead U.S. citizens from a sweltering Guyanese jungle. It is therefore likely that, other than the positioning of the bodies around the radio room, there was no stage-management at all, that any seemingly-deliberate alignment of bodies can be considered a little more than the random circumstances of tragedy. A more logical route would have been to check dental records. Jones’ dead body was found sprawled out on the stage in the settlement’s pavilion. The study asked first basic questions about age, race, marital status and whether military or civilian. As with other such theories, evidence supporting these assertions has not emerged, and while they cannot be completely discounted, the simpler explanations are more logical and more likely. Andy Kopsa is a reporter based in New York City. The immediate emotional impact was what you would imagine; seeing “three or four babies per [body] bag” kept workers up nights. Forty years on, there is a memorial to the victims of Jonestown in Oakland. But it began with a troubled farm boy in America's heartland. Bodies bloat and change color and are infested by insects. The hundred or so followers he’d brought West from his home in Indiana soon ballooned to a thousand, even as his paranoia likewise grew, fed by his growing dependency on pills. Was this done to remove the sight of dead children from their parents? Those who didn’t join Jones’ so-called “revolutionary suicide” were injected with poison; others tried to run for the surrounding jungle only to be shot by one of Jones’ armed guards. What happened there in the aftermath would become one of the first records of how deeply first responders can be affected by the trauma to which their jobs expose them. The Reverend Jim Jones’ bloated body lies on the ground after it was hastily sewn together after his autopsy by officials on November 18, 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana. On November 18, 1978, over 900 bodies were discovered in Jonestown, the makeshift compound established in Guyana by the Peoples Temple sect.In an act of so-called “revolutionary suicide,” most had taken their own lives by ingesting cyanide in a grape-flavored beverage. When the first C-141 aircraft touched down at Dover on Nov. 23, 1978, it carried the remains of 40 U.S. civilians. 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