It was in the spring of 1974 that I was looking at the news in my home in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
The news showed the story of a Japanese soldier that spent over 29 years in the jungle of Lubang Island.
He was sent there to spy on American soldiers in World War II. He started with two other comrades that were eventually killed. The others died in clashes with Filipino villagers and soldiers. For years he refused to
believe that the war was over.
Hiroo Onoda, refused to surrender. For 29 years he survived on food gathered from the jungle or stolen from local farmers. He was hunted by American troops, the Philippine Army and police, hostile islanders, and eventually Japanese search parties. He was able to evade them all. He was persuaded to come out of hiding in 1974, by his former commanding officer. The officer traveled to Lubang to see him and tell him he was released from his military duties. In his tattered old army uniform, Onoda handed over his sword, nearly 30 years after Japan surrendered. He returned to Japan and was welcomed as a hero by the people of Japan.
He wrote a book about his experiences on Lubang Island, "No Surrender, My Thirty-Year War." Hiroo Onoda, died on January 16, 2014 at the age of 91.
Why do I tell this story? I was a flight mechanic on C-47 aircraft stationed at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines from 1970 until the spring of 1972. Our mission was to fly mail, food, cigarettes, liquor, and other things to remote areas of the Philippine Islands where Americans were stationed. Several times I was the flight mechanic on planes that flew to a dirt air strip on Lubang Island.
As I looked at the news in the spring of 1974 I thought to myself, I wonder if he saw our C-47 land at that dirt air strip. Did he see me get out of the aircraft and help unload supplies for the Americans stationed on the island? Was I being spied on? It gave me a strange feeling as I watched the news that evening in 1974. I have thought about it many times since.
The Philippines is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Few people know that the Philippines consist of over 7,000 islands. I met my wife in the Philippines, my son was born there. I have fond memories of the Philippine people. I visited my wife's home far into the jungles of the Philippines. I was followed around by children that had never seen a white man. What an experience, but I will save that for another story.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
