Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda, convinced that the war was still going on, continued following orders
given him in 1944 by his commanding officer Major Yoshimi Taniguchi to stay alive and continue
military operations. Onoda, along with several other holdouts, did all he could to hamper enemy
attacks including destruction of an airstrip and harbor pier. He continued his guerrilla campaign
sometimes hiding in the mountains of Lubang Island and engaging in several small scale shootouts
with the local police. The major Japanese force withdrew, leaving the twenty-three year old Onoda
in the Philippines with the promise that they would one day return and join him. Convinced that
the war was still in progress he waited for the day when his victorious comrades would return.
In February of 1945 he encountered a tourist, Norio Suzuki, who spoke Japanese
trying to convince Onoda that the war had actually ended in 1945 but Onoda dismissed
this as "nonsense!" Onoda vowed to continue his battle until official orders from Japan
reached him. On March 9, 1974 Major Taniguchi arrived with those orders releasing
Onoda of any responsibility or duty to continue the war and ordered him back to
Japan. When he emerged from the Lubang jungle, he turned over his
.25 caliber
rifle, 500 rounds of ammunition, several hand grenades and the dagger his
mother had given him in 1944 to kill himself if he were ever captured.
~ NEXT ~
Mr. Onoda died at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo on Jan. 26, 2014. He was 91.