Japan's Last WWII Straggler Dies

Even though Japan surrendered in August of 1945, officially ending the Second World War, there were some Japanese holdouts or stragglers who did not get the message who still continued to fight for the cause. The last confirmed holdout was that of Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda. Onoda died at the age of 91 in Tokyo on Thursday. And this guy is the true embodiment to what being loyal is.

Onoda held out on Lubang Island in the Philippines from December of 1944 to his surrender in March of 1974. He wasn't alone either, during his 29 year tour on Lubang he fought alongside with Private Yūichi Akatsu, Corporal Shōichi Shimada and Private First Class Kinshichi Kozuka. Onoda was an intelligence officer and was sent to the island to sabotage US and Filipino attacks and was ordered by his commanding officer to never surrender and to take is own life if necessary. On February 28, 1945 US and Filipino forces landed on the island and most of the Imperial Japanese troops surrendered or died, except Onoda and his three men ran and took refuge in the nearby mountains and continued their mission. 

Over the 29 years, Onoda and his men stole food from locals, killed their cows for meat, and got into skirmishes with locals and the police, ended up resulting in 30 deaths. Akstsu split from the group and surrendered in 1950 and in 1954 Shimada was shot and killed by a search party looking for the holdout. Air drops containing family pictures, letters, and leaflets telling them that the war was over were dropped into their hiding spots to encouraging them to surrender, but the group saw them as allied propaganda. Kozuka died 1972, after being shot by police when he and Onoda were conducting a raid and were burning rice that the farmers collected.

In February of 1974, world explorer Norio Suzuki went to Lubang Island to look for the Lieutenant. Suzuki found Onoda on the 20th and the two became friends. Onoda told Suzuki that he would only surrender when he was relieved by a superior officer. So Suzuki flew back to Japan and with the help of the Japanese government they flew out Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, his old commanding officer to Lubang to relieve Onoda of his 30 year duty. Onoda surrendered and gave up his weapons and revived a pardon from the president of the Philippines at the time.

Later in his life Onoda wrote about his experiences in the his book My Thirty Year War and lived in Brazil raising cattle and returned to Japan in 1980. Onoda revisited Lubang and donated $10,000 to the local school.  

Sources
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/onoda-japans-last-imperial-soldier-dead-91
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_holdout
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroo_Onoda