7. Oba’s Guerrilla Campaign
Born in 1914, Sakae Oba joined the Japanese Army in 1934. After years of service in Manchukuo and China, he ended up in the island of Saipan, three months before the US Marines invaded in June of 1944. Despite fierce resistance, the Marines gradually beat back the Japanese defenders. At the end of their tether, Japanese commanders decided to go out in a final blaze of glory, and ordered a massive banzai charge – the largest such charge of the entire war.
Captain Oba was among the few Japanese survivors. Rounding up and taking command of 46 other Japanese soldiers, along with 160 civilians, he struck off into the island’s jungles. After hiding the civilians in concealed caves and remote villages, Oba led his men in a guerrilla campaign, raiding American outposts and supplies, ambushing patrols, and taking potshots at sentries.