A Japanese soldier who continued fighting World War II decades after it had ended died on Friday at the age of 91.
Hiroo Onoda remained locked in active duty on Lubang Island in the Philippines for 29 years. He monitored military sites, clashed with local residents and dismissed all news of Japan’s surrender as an enemy ploy.
Not until 1974, when his aged commander personally came to the island to relieve him of duty, did Onoda agree to pack it in. “I am very competitive,” said Onoda in a 2010 interview. It would make an understated epitaph.
Hiroo Onoda in an undates photoAmerican Soldiers demonstrate the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon to a Japanese soldier of the 39th Infantry Regiment, Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, Nov. 2. during Exercise Orient Shield 2005. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jonathan Crane, 304th MPAD.)LUBANG, PHILIPPINES – MARCH 10: (CHINA OUT, SOUTH KOREA OUT) Former Japanese Imperial Army intelligent officer Hiroo Onoda attends a press conference on March 10, 1974 in Lubang, Philippines. Leutinant Onoda, who spent almost 30-years holding out in the jungle on the Philippine island of Lubang, had refused to surrender until he received direct orders from his commanding officer until 1974. (Photo Credit: The Asahi Shimbun ia Getty Images)Hiroo OnodaHiroo Onoda finally ended his call of duty in 1974Hiroo Onoda pictured in his young years
