History Thru The Lens

Welcome to my blog site!

My interests in history and photography come together in this photoblog. Featured in this blog are historical pictures such as the above photo of the RMS Olympic and her sister ship the RMS Titanic, which would prove to be the last one of them together side by side. Hopefully all who visit will enjoy it and recommend the site to their friends.

NOTE:
You may click any picture in this blog to view it on its' own screen.

Friday, February 4, 2011

His 30 Year War

Hiroo Onoda is pictured in 1974 surrendering to authorities in the Philippines. In December of 1944 during WWII, Onoda, an intelligence officer, originally was assigned to Lubang Island in the Philippines. There he was to 'do whatever he could' to hamper enemy efforts to take the island. He and three other Japanese soldiers survived an attack on the island, and managed to escape into the nearby mountains.

Onoda held up there for the next 30 years, never knowing that the war was over. During  that time, his three fellow soldiers died, and repeated efforts to find him included dropping leaflets, which he believed were fake. Hiroo Onoda had told Norio Suzuki, a college student who had met up with him a few years earlier, that the only way he would surrender would be to his commanding officer. In February of 1974, Suzuki returned to Lubang Island with Onoda's former commanding officer, who persuaded him to surrender.  

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