One day in 1902, an American second lieutenant named George Marshall crossed a small river on the island of Mindoro, Philippines, to pay a visit to a local leader and his three young daughters. The attractive girls were apparently the main draw; they laughed and made chitchat and sang “delightfully.” Social visits were conducted in the mornings in those days to avoid the oppressive heat. Marshall left. But later that same day, he had cause to return to the village, where he joined in the funeral for the same four family members who had welcomed him only hours before. They were dead from a
...more
