Japanese 'wartime soldiers' found in Philippines

[corksean]

Ten weeks short of the 60th anniversary of Tokyo's second world war surrender, diplomats were today investigating claims that two octagenarian Japanese soldiers had emerged from the mountains of the southern Philippines.

According to Japanese media reports, the men were separated from their division six decades ago. Although they wanted to return home, they feared they would face a court martial for withdrawing from action.

But attempts to prove the identities of the two one way or the other suffered a setback when they failed to attend a meeting with Japanese embassy officials on the island of Mindanao.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,7369,1493940,00.html

[Azzkabar]

1. I read about this yesterday

Amazing if it's true. I don't think anything like this has happened in 30 years or so.

Azz

[calico1]

2. I remember reading about a Japanese

soldier being found on one of the Pacific islands. This was maybe 8-10 years ago. He was not aware the war had ended.

[laheina]

5. I used to live on Guam

when I was little, and this sort of thing happened often enough there that if certain kinds of artifacts were found in the jungle, people would start looking for another lost soldier.

The whole thought of it is very surreal.

[Obamanaut]

6. I was stationed in Guam

in '68 - '71, and a Japanese soldier came out of the hills during that time.

[laheina]

7. Hello usnret88 !!

Welcome to DU :hi:

[driver8]

9. Hey -- I lived on Guam and was there when they found the Japanese

soldier who had been living in the jungle for twenty something years. It was amazing the way this guy lived.

Where on Guam did you live? I lived on the NCS base.

[Az_lefty]

17. That was Lt. Hiroo Onoda...

http://history1900s.about.com/library/weekly/aa120700a.htm

[newyawker99]

12. Hi Azzkabar!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[rodeodance]

3. "withdrawing from action"--used to be called disertion

[TheFarseer]

4. This is just incredible

How exciting if true.

"Quoting unnamed sources, Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper said there were around 40 soldiers living on Mindanao, all of whom hoped to return home."

and how many more elsewhere? That would REALLY be something!

[brooklynite]

8. Fortunately, they're not part of the Army's "Ready Reserve"

In a related matter, the Army said more people in the Individual Ready Reserve — those no longer in uniform and not obligated to train — are going to be hearing from the Army in the weeks ahead. The Army has revised upward the number of IRR soldiers it plans to put on active duty, from the 4,402 announced last summer to 4,653. Of those given mobilization orders so far, 370 have failed to report for duty, according to Lt. Col. Pamela Hart, an Army spokeswoman. An additional 2,229 have asked for delays in their reporting dates or for exemptions.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-03-23-army-recruiting_x.htm

[pie]

10. Once again, life imitates "Gilligan's Island."

I would think hiding out that long would drive a person
insane.

[Tesha]

11. After all, look what happened to Bush...

> I would think hiding out that long would drive a person insane.

After all, look what happened to Bush, and he only hid out in Alabama
for part of a year!

Tesha

[shawn703]

13. Two Japanese Soldiers From WWII Possibly Found in Philipines

Japanese officials are investigating claims that two men living in the western Philippines are Japanese soldiers who have been hiding there since the end of World War II.

The Japanese health ministry is in charge of repatriating Japanese citizens from overseas and they have sent people to the Philippine city of General Santos to investigate the situation and determine if the claim is true.

Japanese media indicates that the two men are in their 80s and they are using equipment that dates back to World War II. A mediator is trying to arrange contact between the men and Japanese officials but thus far all attempts have been unsuccessful.

'We are doing our best to contact the mediator. … We will just continue to wait. We hope there will be new developments tonight or tomorrow,' Japanese Consul Seiichi Ogawa said.



more...
http://www.elitestv.com/pub/2005/May/EEN429769de354cf.html

[gman16]

14. Two Japanese Soldiers From WWII Possibly Found in Philipines"

After seeing the state of the world, they returned.

[Az_lefty]

15. Still in hiding?

This almost sounds like Lt. Hiroo Onoda who hid out in the jungle for
29 years.
http://history1900s.about.com/library/weekly/aa120700a.htm

[Ezlivin]

16. Break out the third atomic bomb - they ain't giving up!

I guess it's time to rain destruction on them since a couple of soldiers have yet to give up.

Just waitin' for Bush's next press conference on the elevated threat...

[Moderator]

18. kick to combine

[sintax]

60 Years After the War Ends, Two Soldiers Emerge From the Jungle

60 years after the war ends, two soldiers emerge from the jungle

Mystery surrounds Japanese men, both in their 80s, who say they have been in hiding since second world war

Justin McCurry in Tokyo and John Aglionby, south-east Asia correspondent
Saturday May 28, 2005
The Guardian

The two old men apparently declared they were soldiers, and the story they told when they emerged from the dense jungle of a Philippine island was yesterday the talk of the nation they claimed to have fought for.

According to reports, the Japanese men, who are both in their 80s, said they had been hiding on the island of Mindanao, which is 600 miles from Manila, since before the end of the second world war.

<snip>

The soldiers had remained in the jungle and mountains since then, possibly unaware that the war had ended 60 years ago, and afraid that they would be court-martialled for desertion if they showed their faces again.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,7369,1494389,00.html

[Mnemosyne]

19. Those poor souls!

Welcome to DU sintax! Interesting post.

:hi: :toast:

[sintax]

20. Thank you

I'll have one of those brews now. I've heard of such stories. Would be interesting to hear how they survived. Maybe quite well, as they are in their eighties now.

[aquart]

34. God, I hope they were gay and in love.

[tabasco]

21. I suppose if you just want to disappear and live off the land ...

Mindanao must be a good place.

Assuming the story is true.

Maybe I'll go take over these old boys' cave.

[lenidog]

22. You had me going there for a moment

I had read this and posted a Reuters version earlier today. With the headline this story had I thought they had finally met with the officials and everything had been verified. I guess we will have to wait a little longer to find out.

A more recent story version has them actually marrying Filipinos and adopting Filipino names.


Also welcome to DU

[uppityperson]

23. Was Osama with them?

Or the 1-legged #2 or any of the #3s?

[ElectroPrincess]

25. Watch somebody from my neighborhood try to "tie this in" with

the LOST season finale. :P

[PartyPooper]

24. Super Culture shock awaits these men.

Wait until they find out Franklin Roosevelt is no longer "the enemy" but AWOL George W. Bush (the son of a WWII coward and murderer) is.

:wow:

[ridgerunner]

27. I'm no fan of the Bush family

but how do you consider Papa Bush "a WWII coward and murderer"?

[AtTheEndOfTheDay]

28. Because the wuss ditched his plane

with his two compatriots stuck in another compartment. Allegedly.

[ridgerunner]

29. According to who?

I've never heard that before.

[Massacure]

30. Bush was a pilot and bailed a burning plane before his mates could escape

He's definately a coward, but I'm not so sure about the murder charge.

[ridgerunner]

31. okay, I just did a quick search

and found this ....

As the rear-looking turret gunner on Commander Melvin's plane, Mierzejewski had the most advantageous position for observing the events in question here.

snip

Mierzejewki, who is also a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, told the New York Post that he saw "a puff of smoke" come out of Bush's plane and quickly dissipate. He asserted that after that there was no more smoke visible, that Bush's "plane was never on fire" and that "no smoke came out of his cockpit when he opened his canopy to bail out." Mierzejewski stated that only one man ever got out of the Barbara II, and that was Bush himself. "I was hoping I would see some other parachutes. I never did. I saw the plane go down. I knew the guys were still in it. It was a helpless feeling."

http://www.american-buddha.com/unauthor.bio.bush.6.htm

[Massacure]

32. The plane did have hydraulic failure though.

The question is how long Bush could have kept the plane stable for.

The ironic thing is that if he had time to launch a torpedo after being hit, he should have been able to safely bring the plane down and toss his comrades into a life raft.

Do we know how injured his two other crew members were after being hit by that AA?

[PhuLoi]

33. Poppy strafed a lifeboat containing Japanese survivors, when

asked for justification of his action he claimed he could see guns in their hands. I call that murder.

[brooklynite]

26. Details from the Japan Times

The two men may be Yoshio Yamakawa, 87, and Tsuzuki Nakauchi, 85, although Foreign Ministry officials said they would not reveal their identities until embassy officials met with the two. Yamakawa and Nakauchi are officially registered as war dead.

,,,snip...

The health ministry said it received information last year from a civic group collecting the remains of Japanese soldiers killed during the war that there are four Japanese soldiers on or near Mindanao.

Three of them are believed to be in the mountains of Cagayan province and another on the island of Balut, south of Mindanao, according to the ministry

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20050528a1.htm