With 5G melting our brain, it's hard to imagine someone can still stay oblivious to what's going on around them. But they do. Whether they choose to disconnect themselves or not, there are people who live off the grid and seriously fall behind the world. To us strangers, the most interesting part of their detachment is probably its end. The sudden mind blow that sweeps across their entire perception of reality.
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They had to bring his former commanding officer over to convince him the war was over. He did not believe people when they told him. He thought it was American tricks.
Actually it was the Philippines, much more territory to hide in than Guam. From the BBC: "The last Japanese soldier to formally surrender after the country's defeat in World War Two was Hiroo Onoda. Lieutenant Onoda finally handed over his sword on March 9th 1974. He had held out in the Philippine jungle for 29 years."
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/japanese-soldier-found-hiding-on-guam
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That poor guy terrorized the village he was living next to. He went home to a hero's welcome but not before he murdered a handful of locals.
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Guys I currently live in Guam, and it’s true. I have been to his cave in Talafofo Guam. His name is Yokoi. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokoi%27s_Cave
My friend was living on Guam when this happened. For years before this there had been periodic reports of someone hiding in the jungle.
Yes I believe you totally. I'm sure the snakes clapped.
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That's a true story. He was completely traumatized to learn the war was over.
It was actually the Philippines. A lot more territory to hide in than Guam. From the BBC: The last Japanese soldier to formally surrender after the country's defeat in World War Two was Hiroo Onoda. Lieutenant Onoda finally handed over his sword on March 9th 1974. He had held out in the Philippine jungle for 29 years.
No these were separate. You are correct that there was one in the Philippines. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoichi_Yokoi
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. When he got back to Japan he thought the people had become soft & westernized & immigrated to Peru.
This was a guy who refused to believe. It's not that he didn't have access to information. And if you read about him, he survived by robbing people, and in some cases, killing them.
But NOT the last! Hiroo Onoda was the LAST Japanese to surrender - in the Philippines. He was out there for 29 years! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroo_Onoda
He asked "who won" and was trying to hurt himself when he was told "America". Then he surrendered. I have been on that beach right below this cave.
I heard about that one. His FCO wasn't even in the army any more. He was running a book store I believe.
HAHAHAH OOPS! the things that happen when you go on vacation ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You'd probably always wonder if you somehow stumbled into an alternate dimension.
Someone posted asking if he was assassinated but got downvoted and removed their comment. Not everyone is familiar with US politics from the 1970’s, so others may have a similar question. Richard Nixon was not assassinated but resigned due to withholding information about individuals who were stealing political information from the other party. He knew he would likely be impeached, so he resigned instead. His name has come up frequently in the last four years as many drew a parallel between him and the 45th US President and the difference in how they handled similar charges. If this is interesting, check out information on Nixon and the Watergate scandal, but hopefully I saved some people from having to do a Google search.
Me too. Went camping in Europe and completely missed the collapse of the USSR!
I remember I was at a meeting when 9/11 happened. I'm an English teacher in Europe, and this happened in literally my first month of teaching at a school with primarily Muslim kids. Let's just say that the first two weeks were mostly talking. The kids were incredibly scared that they'd be blamed ...
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There was a reality TV show being filmed on a Scottish island, with the expectation that they'd live there for a year and they'd show updates on TV over the year. The show went a bit to pot because they didn't have a great balance of skills and characters, so the show was already being pared back, but some of the people remained on the island till the end of the year. At the end they had to explain to them that Britain was leaving the EU and trump had been voted in as president in the US. (although after the last few years that feels less shocking than it did at the time!)
Are you sure about this? Seems to have the years mixed up, the people on the island were there years before the voting for Brexit
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Not away from social media, but I did go in for emergency surgery on a Tuesday morning after suffering a severe gall stone attack. When I woke up, San Francisco was in chaos after suffering a 6.9 Earthquake that collapsed bridges and killed 63 people. I sat in my hospital bed watching the horror unfold on the news.
my husband was in a coma due to covid for about 2 months, and despite what they show on tv, coming out of it is very gradual. He was out from April 5 to early June, 2020. I had so much to tell him when he woke up, not just in our personal lives (which were hell) but the world in general
This reminds me of reverse culture shock a bit. I lived in China for four years. When I came back to the US, I had no idea what cell lots were at the airport and it took me a while to figure out what "struggle bus" meant.
Oh goodness.... in my mom's family they still oten only listen to/pay attention to news from back home, so they had no idea for *weeks* that any number of things happened in North America. Took them a while to even figure out Justin Trudeau was the new guy in charge, LOL, and they live in Quebec now!
My ex when on a 3 week camping trip in 1992. The first question he asked me was "What's up with OJ?" He missed the bronco chase and everything. Meanwhile I couldn't get away from it.
Someone with a deep knowledge of TV soap operas can, I hope, provide the details, but the basics are these: In the '70s I was an editor at TV Guide magazine. A writer in our NY office sent in a profile of a woman starring on one of the soaps. She was as the French say "of a certain age"--in her 40s at least. And, critically important, she was German, only arrived in the US years after World War II. So inevitably and hesitantly our writer had raised the question of her experiences in Germany during the war. (Younger BPs should be aware that in those years (1939-1945) Germany was under the sway of Hitler; that Jews, gays, gypsies, the mentally ill and physically disabled were being systematically murdered in a vast network of concentration camps; and thatBerlin, Cologne, Dresden, Hamburg and other cities were razed to the ground by ceaseless bombing raids.) So--what WAS her experience of the war? Well, she said, "our family was on vacation." And TV Guide printed it.
Nowhere near as big as any of these, but I went to Woodstock '99 with 3 friends (and none of us had phones back then). The 3rd day started with riots, so we packed it up and left early. But we got stuck in traffic, and we lived several hours away, so we didn't get home until close to 9 at night. When I walked in the door (I was 21 but living at home before my Sr year of college), my parents and sister jumped up and started hugging me. They had been watching the riots and problems on tv all day and since we weren't supposed to come home until the next day, they thought we were still there and caught in it all. Meanwhile, we knew nothing about what was going on, and all I wanted after a weekend of drinking, camping, and overflowing latrines with no access to showers, was to take a hot bath and go to sleep.
Also remember being a kid while your country is currently having a civil war and everyone is trying to keep you peppy and whatnot so you don't realize everything's going to s**t? ._.
I went into boot camp in August of 2001, so I was there on September 11. They told us about it, but I didn't see footage until we finished in October. When I went in, no one really cared about people in the military unless they were a veteran themselves. When I came out, the whole country was plastered in red, white and blue.
I was working nights and came home from a terrible job which I planned on quitting later that day after 2 weeks. My mom was watching the news, so I sat down to watch with her. When I finally had to go to bed, I had a seizure on the stairway. On 9/11, my seizures that had been controlled for 13 years returned and became resistant to medications.
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These are very interesting, but soo sad! I got chills at the first one. So glad they are okay. :)
There was a reality TV show being filmed on a Scottish island, with the expectation that they'd live there for a year and they'd show updates on TV over the year. The show went a bit to pot because they didn't have a great balance of skills and characters, so the show was already being pared back, but some of the people remained on the island till the end of the year. At the end they had to explain to them that Britain was leaving the EU and trump had been voted in as president in the US. (although after the last few years that feels less shocking than it did at the time!)
Are you sure about this? Seems to have the years mixed up, the people on the island were there years before the voting for Brexit
Load More Replies... Not away from social media, but I did go in for emergency surgery on a Tuesday morning after suffering a severe gall stone attack. When I woke up, San Francisco was in chaos after suffering a 6.9 Earthquake that collapsed bridges and killed 63 people. I sat in my hospital bed watching the horror unfold on the news.
my husband was in a coma due to covid for about 2 months, and despite what they show on tv, coming out of it is very gradual. He was out from April 5 to early June, 2020. I had so much to tell him when he woke up, not just in our personal lives (which were hell) but the world in general
This reminds me of reverse culture shock a bit. I lived in China for four years. When I came back to the US, I had no idea what cell lots were at the airport and it took me a while to figure out what "struggle bus" meant.
Oh goodness.... in my mom's family they still oten only listen to/pay attention to news from back home, so they had no idea for *weeks* that any number of things happened in North America. Took them a while to even figure out Justin Trudeau was the new guy in charge, LOL, and they live in Quebec now!
My ex when on a 3 week camping trip in 1992. The first question he asked me was "What's up with OJ?" He missed the bronco chase and everything. Meanwhile I couldn't get away from it.
Someone with a deep knowledge of TV soap operas can, I hope, provide the details, but the basics are these: In the '70s I was an editor at TV Guide magazine. A writer in our NY office sent in a profile of a woman starring on one of the soaps. She was as the French say "of a certain age"--in her 40s at least. And, critically important, she was German, only arrived in the US years after World War II. So inevitably and hesitantly our writer had raised the question of her experiences in Germany during the war. (Younger BPs should be aware that in those years (1939-1945) Germany was under the sway of Hitler; that Jews, gays, gypsies, the mentally ill and physically disabled were being systematically murdered in a vast network of concentration camps; and thatBerlin, Cologne, Dresden, Hamburg and other cities were razed to the ground by ceaseless bombing raids.) So--what WAS her experience of the war? Well, she said, "our family was on vacation." And TV Guide printed it.
Nowhere near as big as any of these, but I went to Woodstock '99 with 3 friends (and none of us had phones back then). The 3rd day started with riots, so we packed it up and left early. But we got stuck in traffic, and we lived several hours away, so we didn't get home until close to 9 at night. When I walked in the door (I was 21 but living at home before my Sr year of college), my parents and sister jumped up and started hugging me. They had been watching the riots and problems on tv all day and since we weren't supposed to come home until the next day, they thought we were still there and caught in it all. Meanwhile, we knew nothing about what was going on, and all I wanted after a weekend of drinking, camping, and overflowing latrines with no access to showers, was to take a hot bath and go to sleep.
Also remember being a kid while your country is currently having a civil war and everyone is trying to keep you peppy and whatnot so you don't realize everything's going to s**t? ._.
I went into boot camp in August of 2001, so I was there on September 11. They told us about it, but I didn't see footage until we finished in October. When I went in, no one really cared about people in the military unless they were a veteran themselves. When I came out, the whole country was plastered in red, white and blue.
I was working nights and came home from a terrible job which I planned on quitting later that day after 2 weeks. My mom was watching the news, so I sat down to watch with her. When I finally had to go to bed, I had a seizure on the stairway. On 9/11, my seizures that had been controlled for 13 years returned and became resistant to medications.
Load More Replies... These are very interesting, but soo sad! I got chills at the first one. So glad they are okay. :)
