The Ballad of Hiroo Onoda

by Don Mathis

Remembering the End of WWII, the 80th Anniversary

World War II ended 80 years ago with the armistice of 14 August 1945 (Victory Over Japan Day). Two weeks later, the formal surrender was signed on 2 September 1945. But for some holdouts in the Pacific, the struggle continued.

Japanese Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda was the last soldier in the Philippines to lay down his arms. He was finally convinced in 1974 that the war was over, and he began a life worth living. After a period of ranching in Brazil, he established a school in Japan where youth could learn the lessons of nature. Mr. Onoda died in January 2014 at the age of 91. His essence can be summarized in several of his quotations.

Lieutenant Onoda, Sir, reporting for orders.
I will do as you say. I will not complain.
Men should never give up. I never do. I would hate to lose.
One must always be civic-minded.
People cannot live completely by themselves.
Life is not fair and people are not equal.
Some dreams are best not to wake up from.

To remember his service, and that of all soldiers and sailors of WWII, I offer this rensaku, a collection of haiku:

The Ballad of Hiroo Onoda

Hiroo Onoda
Inducted in the army
Under August Moon 

Japanese Army
Taught him guerrilla warfare
Spring graduation 

1944
Sent to Philippine island
December orders 

Never surrender
And never Hari Kari
Live on coconuts 

Another August
Another and another
Unit gone, war done 

Onoda lived on
He ate bananas when ripe
Killed cow now and then 

He never believed
The fight was done, peace declared
Until a spring day 

Honorable soldier
Recalled 30 years of war
With a storm of grief 

Received a pardon
Hiroo was hailed a hero
Still battled dark thoughts 

Japan had transformed
He bought a Brazilian farm
But crops gave no balm 

Back to his homeland
A life to help young sprouts grow
Gave him fulfillment 

Yet the Philippines 
Stayed rooted in memory
He must revisit 

So in ‘96
He made a pilgrimage back
Palms swayed, conscience cleared

Now, 2014
The harvest is finally done
The warrior goes home