denial

Peter Dykstra: The dean of denial

Nearly 80 years ago an obscure soldier set the gold standard for denial, without ever knowing it.

Lt. Hiroo Onoda managed to fight his own lonely World War II for 29 years, ignoring pleas, airdropped leaflets, and more. Last Sunday would have been his 100th birthday.


Descriptions of Onoda suggest he was humble and fiercely loyal. In 1940, he enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Army, training to become an intelligence officer. At that time, Japan was waging war throughout Asia, but its true entry into World War II was still more than a year away, with the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

Onoda made First Lieutenant by 1944 and was assigned to a team on Lubang, a Philippine island north of Manila. Allied troops were advancing on their way to Japan. Onoda’s orders: stay behind, pick up whatever intel you can, and never, ever surrender.

When the rest of Japan surrendered in August 1945, Onoda, a corporal, and two privates didn’t get the memo. The four hid out in the mountains of Lubang, dismissing news of the surrender and occasionally emerging to hijack a cow for food or skirmish with police. In 1950, one of Onoda’s troops turned himself in.

In 1952, Japan’s military repeatedly airdropped packages with letters and photos from family members. At least one of the packages reached the men, but again was dismissed as a hoax.

A second died in a shootout in 1954. Onoda’s final compadre, Corporal Shoichi Shimada, was killed in 1972 when he and Onoda emerged to sabotage local farmers’ rice crops.

At this point, Japan located Onoda’s Superior Officer from 1944 with surrender orders. For refusing to give up, Onoda returned to Japan a hero. He married, wrote a bestselling memoir, and opened a chain of nature survival camps.

Our fascination with denial

Lately, we have a fascination with denial: vaccines (non-COVID), gun deaths, the 2020 elections, COVID, whether pro wrestling is fake.

Anti-vaxxers are nearing their third decade of Rage Against the Vaccines. God knows how people have died or dealt with cancer due to backlash against the human papillomavirus vaccine. And in recent years measles have staged a comeback thanks to resistance to MMR shots.

Then there's the link between America’s dangerously lax gun laws and the shameful total of kids dying in school rooms. And there’s virtually no evidence of 2020 election fraud—at least not where folks are looking for it.

Other dangerous denials: How many could die due to our addled response to the evidence of climate change? How many Russian citizens will buy into its state-run media’s version of events in the Ukraine?

Lt. Onoda is certainly not the worst manifestation of denial—he only harmed himself, and the families of the 30 or so Filipino farmers he picked off in 29 years (that he returned to Japan a hero is somewhat troubling).

But he could serve as a powerful symbol—maybe a talisman, or maybe just a mascot—for how denial knocks our world silly almost every day.

Peter Dykstra is our weekend editor and columnist and can be reached at pdykstra@ehn.org or @pdykstra.

His views do not necessarily represent those of Environmental Health News, The Daily Climate, or publisher Environmental Health Sciences.

Banner photo: Japanese imperial army soldier Hiroo Onoda (R) offering his military sword to Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos (L) on the day of his surrender, March 11, 1974. (Credit: gov.ph)

environmental justice

LISTEN: Ana Baptista on supporting environmental justice movement building in academia

“Some of the best relationships have been built over that time where you’re just getting to know each other, showing up, being present.”

Dr. Ana Baptista joins the Agents of Change in Environmental Justice podcast to discuss supporting environmental justice movements from within academia.

Keep reading...Show less
Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.
Amid LNG’s Gulf Coast expansion, community hopes to stand in its way
Coast Guard inspects Cameron LNG Facility in preparation for first LNG export in 2019. (Credit: Coast Guard News)

Amid LNG’s Gulf Coast expansion, community hopes to stand in its way

This 2-part series was co-produced by Environmental Health News and the journalism non-profit Economic Hardship Reporting Project. See part 1 here.Este ensayo también está disponible en español
Keep reading...Show less
petrochemical shell pennsylvania plastic
Shell's new petrochemical complex in southwestern Pennsylvania. (Credit: Nate Smallwood for Environmental Health News and Sierra Magazine)

Shell must seek a new air pollution permit for its Pennsylvania plastics plant

PITTSBURGH — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is requiring Shell Chemical Appalachia to submit a new air pollution permit for its massive petrochemical plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, which will subject the plant to more regulatory oversight than it’s been operating under.

Keep reading...Show less
LNG Gulf Coast pollution climate
Travis Dardar (center front), founder of Fishermen Interested in Saving Our Heritage and Allyssa Portaro, founder and executive director of Habitat Recovery Project at a fishers’ protest in New Orleans in January. (Credit: Traverse Productions/Diego Henriquez)

Op-ed: For environmental groups, Biden’s LNG decision cause for celebration – and caution

For fighters on the frontlines of the battle for environmental justice, the wins can seem few and far between.

Keep reading...Show less

Exploring the link between prenatal stress from natural disasters and child psychiatric conditions

A new investigation reveals how children exposed to Hurricane Sandy in utero face higher psychiatric condition risks, offering insights into the broader impacts of climate change on brain health.

Clayton Page Aldern reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less

Europe's climate policy opinions vary ahead of elections

A new survey debunks the notion of a broad green backlash against climate policies in Europe, suggesting a majority still favors more ambitious action.

Rosie Frost reports for Euronews.

Keep reading...Show less

Farmers grapple with scarce insurance options amid climate threats

In the face of escalating climate-related risks like droughts and floods, many fruit and vegetable farmers are struggling to find affordable insurance, jeopardizing their livelihoods and food supply.

Patrick Cooley reports for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
petrochemicals Texas

Toxic air lingers in Texas Latino community, revealing failures in state’s air monitoring system

Public data from a network of state air monitors around the Houston Ship Channel is hard to interpret and is often inadequate, leaving Latino-majority neighborhoods like Cloverleaf unaware of whether the air they breathe is safe.

petrochemicals Texas

El aire tóxico en una comunidad latina de Texas revela los fallos del sistema estatal de control de calidad del aire

Los datos públicos de una red de monitores estatales del aire alrededor del Canal de Navegación de Houston son difíciles de interpretar y a menudo son insuficientes, dejando a vecindarios de mayoría latina, como Cloverleaf, sin saber si el aire que respiran es seguro.

pipeline protest

Protesting oil and gas line development harms mental health and creates distrust in government: Study

“The number of stress-activated health conditions people reported was quite staggering."

Global Plastic Treaty

This will be a big year in shaping the future of chemical recycling

The controversial practice looms large in state environmental laws, federal regulation and global plastic treaty negotiations.

plastic chemical recycling

What is chemical recycling?

While industry claims it could be part of a circular plastics economy, experts say that chemical recycling is extremely damaging to the environment and provides no real benefits.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.