NEWS: Two Japanese Imperial Army Soldiers Found Alive in Phillipines, page 1

posted on May, 27 2005 @ 08:00 PM

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The Japanese government has sent a delegation to the Phillipine island of Mindanao, where two Imperial Army World War 2 veterans were recently found living by a Japanese tourist. The two men have not yet been identified, as their departure from Mindanao to Japan is hindered by overwhelming media coverage and the threat of terrorist activity in the area.

news.yahoo.com
GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines - Sixty years after the guns of World War II went silent, reports that two Japanese Imperial Army soldiers had been found in the mountains of the southern Philippines sent Japan's diplomats on a frantic mission Friday to try to contact them.

The two men, in their 80s, reportedly have lived on the restive southern island of Mindanao since they were separated from their division, staying on for fear they would face court-martial if they returned to Japan.

A day of waiting at a hotel in General Santos, a city 600 miles south of Manila, turned to disappointment for Japanese diplomats.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's spokesman, Yu Kameoka, told The Associated Press in Tokyo the men were apparently reluctant to meet with the officials because of the large crowds, including journalists, waiting to see them.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

You usually read about this thing in the supermarket tabloids or hear about something like it happening in general terms, but this story appears genuine. I'm going to be very interested in how these two men assimilate (if at all) back into "the world". Good luck to them.

-koji K.

[edit on 27-5-2005 by koji_K]

rawiea

posted on May, 27 2005 @ 08:58 PM

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WOW! Nice find. After all these years, it is amazing to find anybody still keeping themselves "hidden" from those days.

Majic

posted on May, 27 2005 @ 09:29 PM

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The Memo

Wow. What do you say to these guys after all this time, and all that happened?

"Come home," I guess.

Hellmutt

posted on May, 28 2005 @ 05:23 PM

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Some newspaper claims there are about 40 Japanese WWII soldiers in that area. But they still haven´t found them. Some say it´s a hoax.

Guardian: Japanese 'wartime soldiers' found in Philippines

The reports were reminiscent of the case of the intelligence officer Hiroo Onoda, who believed the second world war was still being fought when he was found in the Philippine jungle in 1974.
Onoda refused to surrender until the Japanese government flew in his former commander to formally inform him that the war was over.

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

Zipdot

posted on May, 28 2005 @ 05:34 PM

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Yeah, I remember reading stories about these guys a couple years ago. The idea is, they thought the war was still on because they thought that Japan would never surrender in a million years. I can't find a source article, but I remember one guy was stranded on an island with his Japanese friend and the friend died like 20 years before the man was found, living alone in a dirty little hand built hut. I might be wrong about some of the finer details.

Zip

periwinkle blue

posted on May, 28 2005 @ 07:08 PM

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I'd not been aware until recently that as many as 40 were suspected still in hiding. Idly in the past I'd wondered if there were.

My Dad would often bring up this topic, as he'd spent 3 years shooting at them while in the Marines during WWII.
He held considerable animosity toward the Japanese until late middle age, when he veered into a gruding admiration for their military abilities and dedication to duty.
Next time you hear them described as a grim determined foe, just think of the personal stamina exhibited by these two most recent 'relics'.

Astronomer68

posted on May, 30 2005 @ 04:19 PM

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When I was in the Navy, stationed on Guam, M.I., back in 1964, A Japanese soldier came out of the jungle and surrendered. He went back to Japan where he was given full pay an allowances for all the years he had been gone. He was then declared a govt expert on jungle survival and give a job by the govt. He led a team of japanese back to Guam to look for two friends he said were still hiding there, but they never came out.

When asked why he waited so long to surrender the soldier said that his company was told by their commanding officer that the U.S. Marines would eat them if they ever got hold of them.

[edit on 30-5-2005 by Astronomer68]