NCAAbbs

...for cluelessness.

January 24, 1972 Japanese soldier found hiding on Guam


After 28 years of hiding in the jungles of Guam, local farmers discover Shoichi Yokoi, a Japanese sergeant who was unaware that World War II had ended.

Guam, a 200-square-mile island in the western Pacific, became a U.S. possession in 1898 after the Spanish-American War. In 1941, the Japanese attacked and captured it, and in 1944, after three years of Japanese occupation, U.S. forces retook Guam. It was at this time that Yokoi, left behind by the retreating Japanese forces, went into hiding rather than surrender to the Americans. In the jungles of Guam, he carved survival tools and for the next three decades waited for the return of the Japanese and his next orders. After he was discovered in 1972, he was finally discharged and sent home to Japan, where he was hailed as a national hero. He subsequently married and returned to Guam for his honeymoon. His handcrafted survival tools and threadbare uniform are on display in the Guam Museum in Agana.

I remember hearing about that when I was in school.

The event was immortalized in a Gilligan's Island episode as well.

edit: Actually, GI ran from 1964-1967, so it predated the event. A prophetic as well as entertaining show.

I should have said dedicated, as well as clueless. 30 years is a long time to wait for reinforcements.

Smaug Wrote:I should have said dedicated, as well as clueless. 30 years is a long time to wait for reinforcements.

Followed closely by the Auburn hide & seek champion from 1911 that has never been found? The Gilligan's Island episode was referencing the many soldiers that had been found previously. This guy was just the last ones they found. The Japanese tried to occupy every island in the pacific as watch stations. They would drop a guy off with a radio and a rifle, and say if we are not back in 2 months, then your position has obviously been overrun, hold the fort until we get back.

http://history1900s.about.com/library/we...20700a.htm