Hiroo Onoda surrendered on Lubang Island in 1974 after hiding for nearly 29 years.
Onoda was a second lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army who had been sent to Lubang in the Philippines in 1944 to conduct guerrilla operations. After Japan’s surrender, he and several companions continued living in the island’s forests because they believed messages announcing the war’s end were enemy propaganda.
One companion surrendered in 1950, and the others later died. Onoda remained alone after 1972. Japanese adventurer Norio Suzuki located him in February 1974, but Onoda refused to surrender until his former commanding officer, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, formally relieved him of duty.
Onoda surrendered to Philippine forces on March 10, 1974. He is often called one of the last Japanese holdouts, although Private Teruo Nakamura was arrested later in 1974. Onoda’s story shows that Japan’s formal surrender did not immediately end every isolated military holdout.