2. Hiroo Odona’s 30-Year Exile
During the Second World War, the Emperor Hirohito could command unswerving loyalty from the Japanese army. They favored suicide over surrender and were conditioned to fight until the very death for Emperor and country. Intelligence officer Hiroo Odona was arguably the most loyal of all Hirohito’s troops – he survived 30 years alone in the jungles of the Philippines before finally becoming the last soldier to surrender in 1974.
Odona had fled into the jungle after hearing of the Emperor’s surrender, assuming it to be a ruse in order to capture Japanese prisoners of war. He was initially joined by two other soldiers, both of whom had either surrendered or were shot by Philippine troops by 1950. Odona lived off berries and animals that he killed for meat in the jungle and carried on fighting for the next two decades. He killed an estimated 30 soldiers before his former commanding officer visited Odona in his jungle hideaway to convince him that the war had been over for almost 30 years.
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