Private First Class Yuichi Akatsu
Born - 1922
Surrendered - March 1950

Posted to the small tropical island of Lubang Island, which is approximately seventy-five miles southwest of Manila in the Philippines. Shortly after Americans landed, all but four of the Japanese soldiers had either died or surrendered. The group of four also included 2nd Lt. Hiroo Onda, , Corporal Shoichi Shimada, Private Yuichi Akatsu and Private Kinshichi Kozuka.

Left the group in September 1949. He managed to live six months on his own before surrendering to the Philippine Army. In 1950, the remaining three found a note left by Akatsu stating that he had been greeted by friendly troops. He even led a group of soldiers into the mountains in search of the remaining men. Onoda and his men quickly concluded that Akatsu was now working for the enemy.

Books that Mention Yuichi Akatsu

• Onoda, Hiroo. No Surrender: My Thirty Year War. Trans. Charles Terry. Harper & Row, 1974.
• Onoda, Hiroo. No Surrender: My Thirty Year War.  Naval Institute Press (reprint) 1999