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Japanese Soldier Spent 30 yrs in Jungles Refusing to believe WW2 was over


I just got the book, "No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War"

In the spring of 1974, Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda of the Japanese army made world headlines when he emerged from the Philippine jungle after a thirty-year ordeal. Hunted in turn by American troops, the Philippine police, hostile islanders, and successive Japanese search parties, Onoda had skillfully outmaneuvered all his pursuers, convinced that World War II was still being fought and that one day his fellow soldiers would return victorious. This account of those years is an epic tale of the will to survive that offers a rare glimpse of man's invincible spirit, resourcefulness, and ingenuity. A hero to his people, Onoda wrote down his experiences soon after his return to civilization. This book was translated into English the following year and has enjoyed an approving audience ever since.

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I read it a long time ago, it was enlightening.

It shows the fanatical loyalty the Japanese troops had to their Emperor and national pride. An enemy that will fall on his own sword or live in a jungle hell for decades rather than surrender is a fearsome threat.

On the Japanese home islands civilian people were jumping off cliffs rather than face the shame of defeat.

An old (paraphrased) US military saying: ‘One G.I. can capture ten Germans but ten G.I.s can’t capture one Japanese.’

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I asked someone about this earlier (who remembered when it happened), and they had skepticism; suggesting it could have been a concocted story with a lot of half-truths.

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Two of my Grandmother’s brothers fought those guys and came back alive but had plenty to tell. I believe it.

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Oh wow.

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I dont doubt what you said about loyalty and falling on the sword for the Emperor - the kamikaze pilots are an example of that.

But 30 years in the jungle thinking the war was still on?
I mean ... the elephant in the room is , after a decade or so ... surely He'd check? somehow.

Bet he was pissed when he found out his loyalty and lifetime commitment to the cause was rewarded with "oh yeah the Emporer surrounded 30 years ago , didnt you know?"

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He could've had 10 gazillion V8's.

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There are stories of the Kamakaze pilots being forced into the planes and welded in. I don't think all of them were so dedicated to do it voluntarily!

And I agree, you would think that after a while you'd be wondering why all the boom boom stopped.

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“ten G.I.s can’t capture one Japanese”

So true. Most of the time all they could get were Korean laborers or Japanese soldiers who were so wounded they couldn’t kill themselves.

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Absolutely.
Another shocking book is called The Rape Of Nanking, it’s not a pleasant read but very informative about the conduct of a lot of the Japanese Imperial forces.

Once they got all wound up on empire building they were not going to stop.

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Really bad. One of the worst accounts I’ve read was that during the occupation of Nanking soldiers made a game out of throwing infants into the air and bayoneting them. Really sick stuff.

Another bad one is about the soldiers captured at Corregidor / Bataan. Imagine being captured then marched north for miles and if you stopped you were killed. Then when ya got where you were going your loaded in rail cars so tightly packed men died standing up. Then loaded into the hulls of ships to go to Japan, if they weren’t sunk by US subs. If you made it that far you finished out the war in a prison, some of which were hit by B29 bombing raids.

It makes ya wonder how such cruelty became so common place at that time.

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Madness. They did some sick stuff.

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Similar stuff happening now in Ukraine by the Russians. Nothing much changes.

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Oh yea, they were every bit as bad as the Nazis.

The death toll in Nanking, virtually all civilian, was 200-300K. That's one city. Chinese war dead : 20,000,000 total, 3,750,000 military, 8,191,000 civilian by military, 10,000,000 disease/famine.

There is film of mothers leaping leaping off of cliffs with their children during the invasion of Okinawa. I guess they thought they'd be treated the way their soldiers were treating everyone else.

The speed with which Japan & Germany, both with rich cultural histories, and now Russia, not to mention Hungary, transformed from passably democratic societies to autocracy is sobering.

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Good one. I read it a couple summers ago.

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Reminds me of the time when we all played capture the flag but no one thought to tell little Greg that the game was over.

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Ha!
That little Greg was a fine soldier, he may still be out there lol.

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haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahah!

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He's still living in the attic with Marcia waiting for cousin Oliver to sign the peace accords.

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🤔🤔 Trying to remember the last time I saw him. The woods where we used play is now an office park. Maybe he just lurks in a basement over there like Milton from Office Space.

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Don’t go anywhere near his stapler!

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Reminds me of "I made a movie?!"

https://youtu.be/AKVvodPv1vk

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reminds me of the followers of Trump they believe he is person invented for tv show and still do why do some not realize what is real and fake

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Someday you'll realize that injecting your political hate into conversations is bad. It's like having bad breath.

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Or, it could just be a story he concocted to avoid being labeled as, and facing the consequences of, a deserter.

"What's that you say? The war ended thirty years ago? Well I'll be danged!"

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LOL - that's another thought. The Japanese culture used to think it was better to kill yourself than to surrender. There's a good movie, "Sepukku" (or something)

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I think the Japanese were basically brainwashed in their training. They were instructed to fight to the death and never surrender. There are many examples of the holdouts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_holdout#Individuals

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Thanks, I'll check that out.

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Reminds me of Biden:
Completely Delusional !!!

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Injecting your political hate into conversations is like having bad breath.

I'm no Biden fan but c'mon. Politicization is ruining everything. Be on the "Stop It!" side.

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Get a sense of humor. 🙄😏

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Political "humor" is rarely actual humor. It's mostly just plain hate. That hate-masquerading-as-comedy is part of what ruined stand-up comedy. It only cheapens discourse and is about as "funny" as saying Luke, I am your Father. It is comedy substitute.

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You are just a little ray of sunshine, aren't you. 💥

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I represent The Ray of Sunshine Police.

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You should be defunded!

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lol

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i heard he was craving for some good sushi.

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