This soldier has got some tales of survival on him. If you know anyone else who was able to survive in a jungle for more than 30 years, then you're quite lucky. This story will surprise you! Find out how he did it!

Hirō Onoda was an Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer who fought in World War II and was a Japanese holdout who did not surrender in 1945.

After Onoda had spent nearly 30 years holding out in the Philippines, his former commander traveled from Japan to personally issue orders relieving him from duty in 1974. He held the rank of second lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army.

via: Wikipedia

The first time they saw a leaflet announcing that Japan had surrendered was in October 1945; another cell had killed a cow and found a leaflet left behind by islanders which read: “The war ended on August 15. Come down from the mountains!” However, they mistrusted the leaflet. They concluded that it was Allied propaganda, and also believed that they would not have been fired on if the war had indeed been over.

Toward the end of 1945, leaflets were dropped by air with a surrender order printed on them from General Tomoyuki Yamashita of the Fourteenth Area Army. They had been in hiding for over a year, and this leaflet was the only evidence they had the war was over. Onoda’s group looked very closely at the leaflet to determine whether it was genuine, and decided it was not.

On February 20, 1974, Onoda met a Japanese man, Norio Suzuki, who was traveling around the world, looking for “Lieutenant Onoda, a panda, and the Abominable Snowman, in that order”. Suzuki found Onoda after four days of searching.

Onoda was thus properly relieved of duty, and he surrendered. He turned over his sword, his functioning Arisaka Type 99 rifle, 500 rounds of ammunition and several hand grenades, as well as the dagger his mother had given him in 1944 to kill himself with if he was captured. Only private Teruo Nakamura, arrested on 18 December 1974 in Indonesia, held out for longer.

Though he had killed people and engaged in shootouts with the police, the circumstances (namely, that he believed that the war was still ongoing) were taken into consideration, and Onoda received a pardon from President Ferdinand Marcos.

This soldier lived quite a life. It's incredible how strong he was and how he was able to survive for so long in the jungle. It sure gives you the reassurance that anyone can live an off-grid life and survive the toughest of situations with some determination.

For more on this story, be sure to check out Outdoor Revival.

Featured Image via Outdoor Revival