It may sound strange to us, but the local indigenous tribes saw modern technology, canned foods and other cargo falling out of the sky. To them, John Frum had brought to them the generosity of the Americans just as he had promised. Part of Vanuatu’s attraction to the American soldiers was the respect they showed to the local people. The British and French that had colonised Vanuatu (known as New Hebrides at the time) had treated the islanders like rubbish, but the American soldiers gave them their dignity back and changed the way that they thought of themselves. The Americans learned their names, trained them, gave them uniforms and even paid them, quite handsomely too. They showed the local people how Americans of all races worked together. Things changed for good on the island.

Before long, the Americans no longer needed Vanuatu and withdrew from the island, taking with them their men, their music and their magic machines. Still, the people of Tanna never forgot and the John Frum movement continues to this day. Every year on 15 February, the cargo cult proudly flies the American flag and holds a grand celebration in his honour. Donning their modest version of American military uniforms, they paint themselves with the letters USA and proudly march holding bamboo poles as a symbol of the American rifles they still remember so well.

The islanders of the John Frum movement love America - possibly more than Americans do.

All these years later, they still hold out hope that one day John Frum will return.