Japanese Veteran Hiroo Onoda dies at 91

[Ian Warren]

A great story of survival, many perished in the Jungles when only a few days away from a base after being shot down, to survive almost thirty years, Yip the story reached prime TV channels in New Zealand - I would have loved to have known what went thru his mind when he saw how the world had changed, even the flight home would have boggled his views and to think what he thought of Japan ... an amazing life story.

 

[parsifal]

Hiroo Onoda, an Imperial Japanese Army officer who remained at his jungle post on an island in the Philippines for 29 years, refusing to believe that World War II was over, and returned to a hero's welcome in the all but unrecognized Japan of 1974, died Thursday in Tokyo. He was 91.

RIP

Charles

i dont know why, but that says it all in such an elegant way charles

 

[Shinpachi]

In a sense, he was a walking dictionary of lost IJA and it was very interesting for me to listen to him on TV because he could answer any question clearly as if he had just come from the 1940s on the previous day. It was time-machine effects.

When asked by a young man "How should we understand or cope with the Yasukuni Shrine? ", he answered with his clear words "You don't have to be sorry for the dead soldiers. They were glad to die for the nation. You only have to say 'Thanks' and that is enough for them. Everything has beginning and ending. You know the Imperial Edict of the End of War well but the other Imperial Edict of War that was our very reason to fight. I recommend you to read it and you will understand our Emperor's passion at the time."

This will be enough as the war was over
Thanks.

 

[vikingBerserker]

He actually wrote about his experience which I just ordered, though it is currently back ordered.

ISBN-10: 1557506639
ISBN-13: 978-1557506634

 

[vikingBerserker]

This book came in this past Friday and I just finished reading it. This was really a fascinating book and gives you a better understanding about the man and the way he thought. He was specifically trained in Guerilla Warfare which at least to me explained a lot.

The only thing I wish it had included was him writing about his return to Japan.

 

[Shinpachi]

Congrats David. You are now expert of Hiroo Onoda
!!

 

[vikingBerserker]

I found this very interesting:


Philippines: Hiking Trail in Lubang Island Dedicated to Hiroo Onoda Who Hid in Its Jungles for 3 Decades - WAR HISTORY ONLINE

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

I am sorry I missed this thread. To Mr. Onoda - Rest In Peace sir.

 

[Mobius]

I wonder if a Confederate soldier still fighting the Civil War 30 years after the war ended would be thought of as a hero.

 

[vikingBerserker]

He certainly would be in the South.

 

[GrauGeist]

I wonder if a Confederate soldier still fighting the Civil War 30 years after the war ended would be thought of as a hero.

General Joe Shelby and his "Iron Brigade" never did surrender. They went to Mexico, returning to the U.S. several years later.

 

[parsifal]

Confederate General Joseph O. Shelby was so reluctant to surrender to Union forces that his unit earned the nickname "the Undefeated." Shelby had spent the Civil War commanding a bushwhacking band of cavalry on a series of raids through Missouri and Arkansas. By the end of the conflict, his "Iron Brigade"—so named for its legendary grit—had caused millions of dollars in damages to Union supplies and property.

Announcing that they chose "exile over surrender," Shelby and roughly 600 soldiers rode south to Mexico after the collapse of the Confederacy. Following a three-month journey through the desert, they offered their services to Maximilian I, an Austro-Hungarian who had been installed as emperor of Mexico in 1864. While the emperor balked at including rebel soldiers in his army, he allowed Shelby's émigrés to help found the Carlota Colony, a small settlement of Confederate expats. The upstart community enjoyed a brief period of prosperity but eventually dissolved after Emperor Maximilian was overthrown. Having never surrendered to federal forces, Shelby and most of his comrades returned to the United States in 1867 and resumed civilian life.