listening to Dan Carlin's Supernova in the East and super irritated that he focused on Hiro Onoda instead of the 10-million-times-more-interested Teruo Nakamura.
The last Japanese holdout to ever surrender was not Japanese imperial fanatic from the home islands but...
.... a Taiwanese aborigene who decided not to surrender with his unit but just build himself a hut on a deserted island and lived quietly until accidentally discovered
.... a Taiwanese aborigene who decided not to surrender with his unit but just build himself a hut on a deserted island and lived quietly until accidentally discovered
Also I guess I shouldn't call him Teruo Nakamura since he did not actually speak Japanese (or Chinese!). His name in his own language was Attun Palalin.
That is a thing I did not know until I just googled it; I'm not super up on my Taiwanese aboriginal name structures just offhand.
But the point is: Attun Palalin wasn't fighting a 30 year war in the woods.
He made friends with locals, planted crops for himself, and lived a fairly quiet and unassuming life from all accounts. A local included him in their will.
He made friends with locals, planted crops for himself, and lived a fairly quiet and unassuming life from all accounts. A local included him in their will.
The most amazing holdouts tho aren't even the longest lasting ones.
The ones I find most impressive are the guys who held out of years ***in populated areas***. Two guys held out in Iwo Jima for ***5 years****. wanpela.com/holdouts/profi…
The ones I find most impressive are the guys who held out of years ***in populated areas***. Two guys held out in Iwo Jima for ***5 years****. wanpela.com/holdouts/profi…
Y'all Iwo Jima is *little*. 8 square miles. My home county is 172 square miles. Manhattan is 22 square miles.
ANd Iwo Jima ain't Manhattan. Few buildings. Few trees. Not too much cover to hide behind. Mostly flat.
ANd Iwo Jima ain't Manhattan. Few buildings. Few trees. Not too much cover to hide behind. Mostly flat.
They lived in a cave and stole stuff.
Guam is even more populated than Iwo Jima. It's bigger too, but in the 1950s it has 60,000 people living on it.
Two guys held out there until 1960.
Two guys held out there until 1960.
Sorry, more than 2.
*Five* guys, a pair and a trio, made it to 1960. Two gave up in 1960. Two died in a flood in 1964. The last one made it to 1972.
*Five* guys, a pair and a trio, made it to 1960. Two gave up in 1960. Two died in a flood in 1964. The last one made it to 1972.
They did this ***in a populated area***!
The *actual* last Japanese to surrender, however, did so in....
.... 1989!
But they don't get counted, because they did "move on" from the war. They accepted that Japan lost.... and joined a communist insurgency in Malaysia! wayback.archive-it.org/all/2008011921…
.... 1989!
But they don't get counted, because they did "move on" from the war. They accepted that Japan lost.... and joined a communist insurgency in Malaysia! wayback.archive-it.org/all/2008011921…
Those guys weren't quite "holdouts" though more like "got-left-behinds."
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