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| Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onada |
Meet Hiroo Onada, an Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer carrying the rank of second lieutenant who never laid down his arms after World War II ended and was a hold out in the small island of Lubang in the Philippines for 29 years.
Onoda was born on 19 March 1922 in Kamekawa Village, Kaisō District, Wakayama Prefecture in Japan to a family of samurai warriors. By the age of 18, he was enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Army Infantry and trained as an intelligence officer in the commando class Futamata of the Nakano School. He was deployed to Lubang Island on 26 December 1944 and joined his unit until the Americans and Filipino forces overwhelmed and captured the island. All but Onada and three other Japanese soldiers were either killed or surrendered to the Allied forces. His order to the other three soldiers, hide in the hills.
He and his team, Private Yuichi Akatsu, Corporal Shōichi Shimada and Private First Class Kinshichi Kozuka went on with their mission as a Japanese hold out and carried out guerilla activities and engaged in several shoot outs with local police. Efforts were made to convince the men to surrender but all these were disregarded.
Yuichi Akatsu left the group and voluntarily surrendered to Filipino forces in 1950 after six months of living alone. Shimada was shot and killed in 7 May 1954 by a search party looking for them while Kozuka was killed by local police while carrying out their guerilla activities.
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| Norio Suzuki poses with Onoda and his rifle. |
On 20 February 1974, Norio Suzuki, a Japanese, found Onada after four days of search. The two became friends but the former failed to convince him to surrender. Onada stressed out that he was waiting for orders from a superior officer. So Suzuki flew back to Japan with a picture of himself and Onada as a proof of their encounter and located Onada’s commander with the help of the Japanese government.
On 9 March 1974, Onoda's commanding officer, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi flew to Lubang Island and met the Japanese hold out and gave the following orders:
1. In accordance with the Imperial command, the Fourteenth Area Army has ceased all combat activity.
2. In accordance with military Headquarters Command No. A-2003, the Special Squadron of Staff's Headquarters is relieved of all military duties.
3. Units and individuals under the command of Special Squadron are to cease military activities and operations immediately and place themselves under the command of the nearest superior officer. When no officer can be found, they are to communicate with the American or Philippine forces and follow their directives.
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| Hiroo Onoda wearing his 30-year-old imperial army uniform, cap and sword walking towards a waiting helicopter. |
Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onada was relieved of all his tasks and duties and surrendered 29 years after World War II ended. He turned over his Arisaka Type 99 rifle, 500 rounds of ammunition and several hand grenades, as well as the dagger his mother had given him in 1944 to kill himself with if he was captured. He was given pardon by the Philippine government and returned to Japan.
Postscript: Onoda died of heart failure on 16 January 2014.
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