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Second Lieutenant Onoda Hiroo (小野田
寛郎), a
Japanese army intelligence officer, was stationed on
Lubang Island in the
Philippines when it was overrun by
United States forces in
February 1945, towards the
conclusion of
World War II. Most of the Japanese troops were slain or captured by
American forces. Onoda and several other men however hid in the dense
jungle.
For 29 years, Onoda refused to surrender, dismissing
every attempt to convince him that the war was over as a ruse. He continued
his campaign, living in the mountains with a small band of men, some of whom
abandoned him and others who were killed, leaving him alone in the
mountains. In
1960, Onoda was declared legally dead in Japan.
Found by a Japanese student, Onoda still refused to
believe that the war was over until he received orders to lay down his arms
from his superior officer. In
1974 the Japanese government located Onoda's commanding officer, who had
since become a bookseller. He went to Lubang and ordered Onoda to surrender.
Lieutenant Onoda emerged from the jungle 29 years after the end of World War
II, and accepted the order of surrender in his dress
uniform and
sword, with his 25 calibre
rifle still in operating condition, 500 rounds of
ammunition and several
hand grenades.
Though he had killed some thirty Philippine inhabitants
of the island and engaged in several shootouts with the police, the
circumstances of these events were taken into consideration, and Onoda
received a pardon from President
Ferdinand Marcos.
After his surrender, Onoda moved to
Brazil, where he became a cattle
farmer. He released an autobiography, No Surrender: My Thirty-Year
War, shortly after his surrender, detailing his life as a guerilla
fighter in a war that was long over. He revisited Lubang Island in
1996, donating $10,000 for the local school on Lubang. Onoda is still
alive today.
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