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khunsanuk
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WW2 soldier Onoda, who hid in jungle until 1974, dies

 

 

A Japanese soldier who refused to surrender after the end of World War Two and lived in the jungle for 29 years has died in Tokyo, aged 91.

 

Hiroo Onoda remained on duty on Lubang Island near Luzon in the Philippines until 1974 because he did not believe that the war had ended.

 

Still wearing his uniform, Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda was eventually persuaded to leave the Philippines by his former commanding officer.

 

He was welcomed back to Japan as a hero.

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25773606

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I was a PC vol in LOS at the time. It inspired the Japanese government to conduct a search for other holdouts. They didn't find any in Thailand, but they did find two who had chosen not to go home. One was an LT who had been searching for straglers in the Burmese jungle and missed being repatriated after WWII. He figured, "What the hell. May as well stay here." He married and settled in Chiang Mai. Another was a private who decided to stay put, since there wasn't much sense in returning to a defeated Japan. He settled in Nakorn Sawan, married and had a family. The men's families in Japan were amazed to learn they were still alive! Former Free Thai guerrillas also showed the Japanese where they'd buried the bodies of Japanese soldiers they'd killed in a convoy ambush near Tak. The rusting vehicles were still sitting there. The Japanese removed the remains and sent them home for cremation.

 

http://en.wikipedia....apanese_holdout

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What about the guy who had/has the restaurant in Patpong, does the Sarika steaks from the local grain fed cattle? I'd heard he was a stay behind. Okay, maybe they were just talking about those who walked of the job, perhaps this guy was known. Pretty sure there were more than a few who stayed behind.

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I remember a very cute freelancer named Sumi when I arrived here in the mid 1970s. Her papa had been a Japanese soldier in WWII. It struck me as a bit bizarre... the daughter of a Japanese WWII soldier and a Thai hooker shagging the sons of WWII Allied soldiers. Amazing Thailand. ;)

 

p.s. A recent Thai film told the "touching story" of a romance between a kindly Japanese soldier and a Thai girl. From what I was told by Thais old enough to remember the war, they were frightened to death of the Japanese and did their best to avoid them as much as possible. :dunno:

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