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)

assateague island wetlands bird
Photo by Sara Cottle on Unsplash

Albert C. Lin: The Supreme Court just shriveled federal protection for wetlands, leaving many of these valuable ecosystems at risk

In Sackett v. EPA, a suit filed by two homeowners who filled in wetlands on their property, the Supreme Court has drastically narrowed the definition of which wetlands qualify for federal protection.
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.

Can tires turn green?

Tire manufacturers are adopting greener production processes and more renewable materials, but they have yet to get a grip on tire particle pollution.

'I wanted to cry': Devastating risks of spray foam insulation hidden from Vermont homeowners

When asked how a homeowner could assess whether they’re hiring a high-quality insulation installer, Brent Ehrlich, a products and materials specialist at BuildingGreen, said, “I don't really have a good answer to that.”
climate change reshapes California coast
BigStock Photo ID: 430218898
Copyright: NFL1
Available for extended license use

California’s cliffs are crumbling as climate change reshapes the coast

Planners always knew choices would have to be made whether to keep building along the edge of the Pacific. They just didn't think it would happen so quickly.
Arctic warming biodiversity disruptions
Denali National Park and Preserve/Flickr/Commercial use & mods allowedNPS Photo / Alex Vanderstuyfhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Just between us squirrels, there might be trouble in the Arctic dating scene

Climate change appears to be disrupting the hibernation of females in the Far North, scientists say, and that could affect mating season.
James Hansen climate warming warning
cereid2/Flickr/

James Hansen warns of a short-term climate shock bringing 2 degrees of warming by 2050

The famed researcher publicly released a preliminary version of a paper-in-progress with grim predictions of short- and long-term warming, but not all climate scientists agree with its conclusions.

climate impacts on Lake Erie
John Beagle/Flickr/Commercial use & mods allowedhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Bracing for climate impacts on Lake Erie, the walleye capital of the world

Though fisheries are thriving now, “continuing warming on the trajectory we’re going is not going to be good for walleye and yellow perch.”

From our Newsroom
halliburton fracking

How the “Halliburton Loophole” lets fracking companies pollute water with no oversight

Fracking companies used 282 million pounds of hazardous chemicals that should have been regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act from 2014 to 2021.

President Joe Biden climate change

Op-ed: Biden’s Arctic drilling go-ahead illustrates the limits of democratic problem solving

President Biden continues to deploy conventional tactics against the highly unconventional threat of climate change.

oil and gas wells pollution

What happens if the largest owner of oil and gas wells in the US goes bankrupt?

Diversified Energy’s liabilities exceed its assets, according to a new report, sparking concerns about whether taxpayers will wind up paying to plug its 70,000 wells.

Paul Ehrlich

Paul Ehrlich: A journey through science and politics

In his new book, the famous scientist reflects on an unparalleled career on our fascinating, ever-changing planet.

oil and gas california environmental justice

Will California’s new oil and gas laws protect people from toxic pollution?

California will soon have the largest oil drilling setbacks in the U.S. Experts say other states can learn from this move.

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