Stephen Pile, in his book titled The Book of Heroic Failures, told the story of two men who refused to quit fighting World War II. One was Lt. Hiro Onada. He had been told to guard an obscure island in the Philippines, which he did until he surrendered on March 10, 1974. He ignored the fact that he had stopped hearing and seeing any armed resistance. They air dropped him letters insisting he give up, but he thought it was a trick. Even after he was found in 1974, it took six months for him to be convinced the war had ended. Later that same year, Private Teruo Nakamura finally was captured—faithfully following his orders to the end. While we might question their wisdom, and they might be thought of as stubborn, we can admire that level of commitment.
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