Japanese Holdout Army Who Hid in PHL Jungle for 30 Years Dies at Age 91

Former Japanese Imperial Army Intelligence officer, Hiroo Onoda, who fought in World War II and did not surrender in 1945, died in Tokyo Thursday. He was 91.

Onoda was sent to Lubang Island in the Philippines on December 26, 1944. He was ordered to do all he could to hamper enemy attacks on the island, destroying the airstrip and the pier at the harbor. Onoda was also ordered that under no circumstances was he to surrender or take his own life.

When Imperial Japan surrendered in October 1945, Onoda and his men spent their hiding in the mountains after mistrusting the leaflets informing them that Japan surrendered.

When convinced by a friend, Onoda still refused to surrender, saying that he was waiting for orders from a superior officer.

Japanese government located Onoda’s commanding officer, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, who flew to Lubang on March 9, 1974, and finally met with Onoda and fulfilled the promise made in 1944, “Whatever happens, we’ll come back for you.” Taniguchi issued him orders to ceased all combat activity.

Onoda also authored his own autobiography, “No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War”, detailing his life as a guerrilla fighter in a war that was long over.

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