18. The Last Holdout in Guam
One of the longest holdouts was that of Imperial Japanese Army Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi, who managed to escape capture for 28 years. He had been posted to Guam in 1943, which was attacked and captured by US forces a year later. Yokoi and nine other Japanese soldiers hid in the island’s interior and refused to surrender at war’s end. The group gradually dwindled over the years, until Yokoi’s last two companions drowned in a flood in 1964, and he was left as the last holdout on Guam.
Unlike the majority of holdouts who did not believe that the war was over, Yokoi knew by 1952 that the war had ended with Japan’s surrender. He simply could not bring himself to swallow his pride and return home as a defeated soldier. He also convinced himself that Japan would rise again and attempt to retake Guam, in which case he would be ready and in place to assist with the reconquest. As he awaited that day, Yokoi survived in the jungle and spent his days hidden in an elaborate hole in the ground, from which he emerged at night to hunt lizards and gather tubers and snails.