Hiroo Onoda

Hiroo Onoda
Onoda, c. 1944
Native name	小野田 寛郎
Born	(1922-03-19)19 March 1922 Kamekawa, Wakayama, Empire of Japan
Died	16 January 2014(2014-01-16) (aged 91) Tokyo, Japan
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service	1942–1945 (continued service until 1974)
Rank	Second Lieutenant
Battles/wars	World War II Philippines campaign

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.