Even if training and flying by dead reconing and visual navigation, I ask myself: did the aircraft have GPS on board and if so, why was it not used ? If you don't have experience and don't know the country, flying in Nam without a GPS in your flightbag (if the aircraft does not have one installed) as backup, is crazy. This is a question that NATA should answer.
The behavoir of Miss Hiwilepo seems defensive, embarressed and a bit immature. There would be something like a flight autherization sheet at NATA on who was piloting that aircraft and I am sure that flightplans stating the PIC must have been filed as they were flying back to a controlled airport. It is not a sin for a novice pilot to say: I got lost. I think all of us have been in that situation before, however we had tools, skills on how to work ourselves back in the right direction to unmissable landmarks that would given us an instant awareness of where we were. Flying VFR you would only need a whisky compass to do this. If east of track, fly southwesterly until you hit the B1 and bingo... for example. Flying easterly on that trip is looking for trouble. Like skillie says - if someone can't grasp that, then they should do themselves a favour: it is no sin to admit aviation is not for them.