Ei Yamaguchi Spent Years Hiding in Tunnnels
Ei Yamaguchi was in the wrong place at the wrong time in September of 1944: he was a Japanese army lieutenant posted to the island of Peleliu when it was invaded by US forces. 73 days of fierce fighting ensued before the island was declared secure, during which the Americans had to root out the defenders from an elaborate system of bunkers, caves, spider holes, and underground positions connected by tunnels.
Yamaguchi was one of the few Japanese survivors, and taking charge of 32 other survivors, he went to ground in the subterranean defensive tunnel network honeycombing the island. Hunkering down like mole men, Yamaguchi and his men evaded capture by hiding in and moving about via the tunnels beneath the island’s surface.
When the war ended the following September, Yamaguchi’s contingent were cut off from communications with their chain of command, and so did not get official word to surrender. Announcements of war’s end, blared across the island by loudspeakers and contained in leaflets dropped all over Peleliu, were dismissed as fake news and enemy trickery.
The holdouts kept up a desultory guerrilla resistance, taking the occasional pot shot at American personnel on the island. However, ammunition was scarce, and survival and evading detection were the main priorities. Matters continued thus, until April of 1947, when one of Yamaguchi’s men was captured by a Marine patrol. He revealed that his comrades did not believe that Japan had surrendered, and were getting desperate, contemplating a suicidal banzai attack to go out in a blaze of glory.
American authorities secured letters from the holdouts’ families, informing them that the war was over and urging them to surrender, and flew in a Japanese admiral to confirm that the war was over. That finally convinced the holdouts, and on April 21, 1947, they emerged from their tunnels and marched to the island’s headquarters building. There, lieutenant Yamaguchi saluted, bowed, and ceremoniously surrendered his sword and his command.