From Brother In Arms

In 1944, Japanese intelligence officer Hiroo Onoda was sent to a small island in the Philippines with orders to fight behind enemy lines and never surrender. His commanding officer literally told him: “It may take three years, it may take five, but whatever happens, we’ll come back for you.” Onoda took him at his word. He was 23.

Japan surrendered the following year. Leaflets were dropped over the island. Onoda read them, found errors in the text, and dismissed them as propaganda. Newspapers followed. Then letters from his family. Then his own brother’s voice over a loudspeaker, begging him to come home. Onoda ignored all of it. In his mind, the war was still on, and every attempt to reach him was just another trick.

For 29 years, he lived in the jungle, starting with three companions. One surrendered in 1950. The other two were killed by local police who thought they were chasing bandits, not soldiers. For his final two years, Onoda was completely alone, still fighting an enemy that no longer existed.

In 1974, a 24 year old Japanese college dropout walked into the jungle and found him in four days. He had told his friends he was searching for “Lieutenant Onoda, a panda, and a Yeti, in that order.” Governments had failed for decades. A hippie with Onodakpack did it in a long weekend, because he came to listen, not to convince him to surrender. Onoda agreed to talk, but still refused to lay down his weapons. He had received an order, and only his commanding officer could relieve him.

The backpacker flew to Japan, tracked down that officer (now a bookseller), and brought him back to the Philippines. The old commander stood in front of Onoda and formally relieved him of duty. Only then did the soldier lay down his weapons: A functioning rifle, 500 rounds of ammunition, hand grenades, and the dagger his mother had given him 30 years earlier.

Onoda returned to Japan still wearing his Imperial uniform. He was 52, went on to open a survival school for young people, and lived to the age of 91.

“I became an officer and I received an order. If I could not carry it out, I would feel shame.”