Hiroo Onoda | |
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Native name | 小野田 寛郎 |
Born | Kamekawa, Wakayama, Empire of Japan | 19 March 1922
Died | 16 January 2014 Tokyo, Japan | (aged 91)
Allegiance | Empire of Japan |
Service/ | Imperial Japanese Army |
Years of service | 1942–1945 (continued service until 1974) |
Rank | Second Lieutenant |
Battles/wars |
Hiroo Onoda (Japanese: 小野田 寛郎, Hepburn: Onoda Hiroo, 19 March 1922 – 16 January 2014) was a second lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II and one of the last Japanese holdouts who continued fighting after the war's end in 1945. For almost 29 years, Onoda carried out guerrilla warfare on Lubang Island in the Philippines, on several occasions engaging in shootouts with locals and the police. Onoda (who initially held out with one soldier who surrendered in 1950, and two who were killed, in 1954 and 1972) was contacted in 1974, but refused to surrender until he was relieved of duty by his former commanding officer, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, who was flown to Lubang. Onoda surrendered on 10 March 1974, and received a hero's welcome in Japan.