Read last week about the passing of Hiroo Onoda. The obituary appeared in the New York Times and can be found at
Mr. Onoda's story has always fascinated me because the notion that a man would continue to wage war for thirty years is beyond my comprehension. When I first heard about Mr. Onoda's story some years ago, I decided to look him up on Wikipedia and read more about him. The following is the current
Wikipedia listing
In reading the Wikipedia article, I noticed that there was one Japanese soldier, a Teruo Nakamura, who held out longer than Mr. Onoda so I became curious about him as well. His listing is at
In reading the accounts of Onoda and Nakamura, and seeing the disparate reactions to their deeds, I was forced to reflect about the often strange twist of fate that can occur. How strange that one man would be received with such acclaim while another would be so quickly relegated to obscurity.
Life, and history, can be so strange... and unpredictable.
Peace,
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