John Frum (or Jon Frum) is a mystical American GI celebrated on the island of Tanna, part of the country of Vanuatu in the South Pacific. He is depicted as a serviceman dressed in a white uniform.

The legend says that an American World War II serviceman will bring wealth and prosperity to the island people if they worship him. This phenomenon is a cargo cult that sprang up in villages in the South Pacific during World War II, when hundreds of thousands of American troops and their supplies poured into the islands from the skies and seas. When the war ended and the military and their precious supplies ceased to come, many islanders in the South Pacific began to carve airstrips into their forests to entice the Americans to return. In 1964, one cargo cult on New Hanover Island in Papua New Guinea offered the U.S. government $1,000 for Lyndon Johnson to come and be their paramount chief - he declined.

Most of the cargo cults evaporated with their dreams of the rich Americans returning, but this island on Sulpher Bay, featured in recent years on the TV show “Survivor”, has turned John Frum into a god and they worship he accordingly. Rituals with dancing and preaching are conducted throughout the year but on February 15 they hold a special celebration for John Frum. No one knows were the name came from, but it is speculated that the islanders heard American GIs say “John from America……or wherever, and the natives took it as John Frum. Today his story has been mixed with the story of Christ, and the islanders wait for him to return. Read more about this fascinating island from the Vanuatu Cultural Centre.