Hiroo Onoda stayed at war for 28 years, 6 months and 8 days after Japan surrendered, because nobody with the right rank had told him to stop. He landed on Lubang Island in the Philippines in December 1944. When US forces came ashore in February 1945, his commanding officer, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, ordered him to stay and fight. In Onoda's memoir, the major promised: "It may take three years, it may take five, but whatever happens we'll come back for you." Japan surrendered that September. Onoda and three other soldiers stayed in the jungle anyway, living on wild fruit, game and stolen rice. Leaflets and letters from their families told them the war was over, and they didn't believe any of it. In 1959 Japan officially declared Onoda dead.
This wasn't a harmless camping trip. Over the years the group had shootouts with locals and police. One of Onoda's men surrendered in 1950. The other two were killed, one in 1954 and one in 1972, which left Onoda alone. On 20 February 1974, a Japanese adventurer named Norio Suzuki found him after four days of searching. Suzuki had told friends he was looking for "Lieutenant Onoda, a panda, and the abominable snowman, in that order." Onoda still wouldn't surrender. He said he was waiting for orders from his commanding officer.
So Japan tracked down Taniguchi, who had become a bookseller, and he flew to Lubang. On 9 March 1974 he relieved Onoda of duty. The next day, Onoda surrendered to Philippine forces. He handed over his sword, a working rifle, 500 rounds of ammunition, several hand grenades, and the dagger his mother had given him in 1944 to kill himself if he was captured. President Ferdinand Marcos granted him a full pardon for crimes committed while he was in hiding. Onoda is often called the last Japanese soldier to surrender, but he wasn't. Private Teruo Nakamura held out even longer and was arrested in Indonesia on 18 December 1974.
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