Hiroo Onoda was barely 18 when he enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Army Infantry. At the time, he was just one of many too-young men sent off to support the Japanese war effort. But Onoda so distinguished himself that he has become almost a myth. Everyone has heard something about him, but few know the story of the soldier who spent decades fighting a war which had ended years earlier.
Born in 1922, Onoda was quickly singled out for special intelligence training. He learned guerrilla warfare, philosophy, history, martial arts, propaganda, and covert operations. In 1944, now an officer, he was sent to Lubang Island, 150km southwest of Manila in the Philippines, during the waning months of World War II.
Onoda's orders were clear: to hamper enemy attacks on the island (including destroying the airstrip which he arrived on), and never to surrender or take his own life.
“I became an officer and I received an order. If I couldn't carry it out, I would feel embarrassed. I am very competitive,” Onoda said decades later, in 2010.
That one command was Onoda's driving force. He was engaged in guerrilla warfare, and in 1945, when Japan surrendered, Onoda thought it was a waste, so he continued living by that same rule — never surrender.
To inform such soldiers, hidden in the jungle, that they can now return home, Japan dropped leaflets from the air. But Onoda still didn't believe the news.
“The leaflets they dropped were filled with mistakes, so I judged it was a plot by the Americans,” he said. Onoda was sure that the leaflets were Allied propaganda, aimed at capturing Japanese soldiers.
Together with three other soldiers, Onoda continued fighting a guerilla war. They survive off bananas and coconuts, and pilfered rice from local farmers. They killed 30 island inhabitants over the years and evaded police shootouts.
In 1950, one of the other rogue soldiers he was with, Yuichi Akatsu, surrendered to Filipino forces. Onoda thought that this could pose even greater danger to him and he became even more cautious.
Another of the soldiers, Shōichi Shimada, was shot dead in 1954 by island police officers. Then Private First Class Kinshichi Kozuka, his final ally, was also shot by local police much later, in 1972. Each incident further cemented Onoda's idea that the war continued.
For 29 years, Onoda stayed in the jungle, mostly living in underground caves. He spent his time gathering intelligence on enemy movements, as his job required him to do. For his final two years, he was alone.
Onoda showed characteristics rarely seen in the modern world, but those which make the very best soldiers; asceticism, undeviating will, obedience, loyalty, and sacrifice. However, the skills he learned in his early training ultimately proved critical to his survival.