Reddit reviews No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War

For many of the Japanese who were bypassed during the pacific campaign the war's end was either unknown immediately or largely ignored. With the supply chain cut off, communication was rarely readily available. It may have taken a while for the Japanese on these bypassed islands to get the word that the war was lost. For some, this news was hard to swallow and in some cases it was ignored. The Japanese soldier was trained to not give up, dying in battle was the ultimate goal of the Japanese warrior. There were also cases of Japanese soldiers who joined the fight for Vietnamese independence and Indonesian independence to rid the Asian colonies of western control.

There were search parties, both Japanese and American and sometimes joint, to convince the holdouts that the war was over and to bring them home. Still some Japanese resisted. This book ( http://www.amazon.com/No-Surrender-Thirty-Year-Bluejacket-Books/dp/1557506639 ) was written by Hiroo Onoda, one of the most famous Japanese holdouts following World war 2. He was finally relieved of duty by his former commanding officer in 1974.

I read Onoda's book No Surrender and it's a great look into his mindset at the time.

He and his compatriots didn't believe the first news of surrender, and no one wanted to be the first to give in. They were on a recon/intelligence mission for the Japanese invasion.

They understood that fighting had stopped, but believed Japan would gather its armies and resume the war, and at that point greatly need his intelligence on the island. Once the others died believing this, even a search party with his own brother could not get Onoda out of hiding. It was awful hard on him.

There was a group of men called The Holdouts who refused to believe that Japan surrendered during WWII and subsequently hid in the jungles of the Philippines until 1974 defending Japan's honor. Hiroo Onada was one of the last holdouts, surrendering in March of 1974. He is still alive, living in Brazil. He's also written a book about it.

he did.

No Surrender: My Thirty Year War

Very good story. I'm like you, I had the privilege of having a grandmother who was born in the late 1800s (actually, a great-grandmother). Anybody who grew up around those types of people are likely to have been positively influenced by them. This woman never had a car in her life, walked everywhere she went, did lots of hard work well in to her late 90s, like gardening all summer, lifting heavy stuff up stairs, etc.. Those types of people who grew up without electricity, air conditioning, soft beds, etc, are on a whole different level. Regardless of race.

I agree that you tend to develop sense of superiority compared to normal people, when you grew up hard, or succumbed to hard conditions at some point in life. To the point where you begin to see "hard work" as something that you actually need, like air or water. Also, what really inspires me about the older generations is how they didn't gorge themselves on food, in fact, they ate very little, and were surprisingly strong for their size, even in old age.


One guy who really inspires me is Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese soldier who lived in a jungle for almost 3 decades. I highly recommend reading his book about his experience. He was one of those "old guard" people who lived hard and long, and "did the impossible" as an everyday thing. Patience, persistence, stoicism... All attributes that have been totally lost in many countries, since WW2.

https://www.amazon.com/No-Surrender-My-Thirty-Year-War/dp/1557506639

Yes. No Surrender : My Thirty Year War

Enjoy.

Amazon link to the soldier's book

It's awesome. He was an officer, is very intelligent, and gives lots of jungle survival tips . Lots of lessons in doublethink too - how he managed to reconcile his view that the war was still on with the information he received as time passed.

Yes, it's called No Surrender
No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War https://www.amazon.com/dp/1557506639/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_UMd4Db0R4DM66

Everything about this guy's story is incredible

Onoda also wrote a book about his experience called No Surrender:

http://www.amazon.com/No-Surrender-Thirty-Year-Bluejacket-Books/dp/1557506639

http://www.amazon.com/No-Surrender-Thirty-Year-Bluejacket-Books/dp/1557506639

was such a good book about it.

not sure if it was posted in here but good read!

http://www.amazon.com/No-Surrender-My-Thirty-Year-War/dp/1557506639

I read his book:

http://www.amazon.com/No-Surrender-My-Thirty-Year-War/dp/1557506639

It's actually fascinating.

Hiroo Onoda is the one you want to read about. He wrote a memoir called: No Surrender - My Thirty-Year War

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroo_Onoda
http://www.amazon.com/No-Surrender-Thirty-Year-Bluejacket-Books/dp/1557506639

There were a lot of islands separated by a lot of ocean. Lack of communication was probably the primary factor in them thinking they had to fight on. No Surrender is a good book about a soldier that hid for thirty years thinking the war was still on. People knew he was out there, but he refused to believe the Japanese Empire would ever surrender. Even when they dropped newspapers describing current events in Japan, he thought "those crafty Americans and their propaganda." A hand written note from his brother that was dropped was also dismissed with him thinking "now they have even imitated his handwriting!"

http://www.amazon.com/No-Surrender-Thirty-Year-Bluejacket-Books/dp/1557506639/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269570463&sr=8-1

comes from that guy that wouldn't surrender

My personal recommendations:
My 30 year war by Onada Hiro:
This book was written by a Japanese lieutenant who refused to believe the war was over, and continued living in the jungles of the Philippines until the 70s.

https://www.amazon.com/No-Surrender-My-Thirty-Year-War/dp/1557506639/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493673294&sr=8-1&keywords=Hiroo+Onoda

Battleground Pacific by Sterling Mace. A first person account from a USMC rifleman who fought in the Pacific war. He is also a redditor.

https://www.amazon.com/Battleground-Pacific-Marine-Riflemans-Odyssey/dp/1250005051?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1250005051

And the Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer, a French man who fought for the Germans on the Eastern Front.

https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Soldier-Guy-Sajer/dp/1574882864/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493673668&sr=8-1&keywords=the+forgotten+soldier+by+guy+sajer

Happy reading!

No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War https://www.amazon.com/dp/1557506639/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_nmajDb1MPSGBF

Different guy but the book you're looking for.

Hiroo Onoda beat em by 2 years I think, I read his book recently, pretty awesome.

http://www.amazon.com/No-Surrender-Thirty-Year-Bluejacket-Books/dp/1557506639/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1314298829&sr=8-2