Remember in hide and seek when the seeker calls "Olly Olly Oxen Free" and all the hiders get to come back?
I thought that the tales of Japanese soldiers holed up in remote Pacific islands long after World War II was over were the stuff of legend. Apparently not.
"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."
It was an interesting story, but not true. 8^)
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/05/31/japan.soldiers.ap/
Oh, well. I guess such stories really are legend after all. 🙂
Thanks for the link, Allen.
Actually the end of the article mentions:
“Years after the war ended, there were signs indicating Japanese soldiers were still in the hills.
In March 1974, intelligence officer 2nd Lt. Hiroo Onoda came out of hiding on northern Lubang island, but he refused to give up until the Japanese government flew in his former commander to tell him the war was over.”
So such stories are not always legend after all ;o)