Posted on 09/06/2017 6:38:36 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Marvin Strombo, who had taken the calligraphy-covered Japanese flag from a dead soldier at World War II island battlefield 73 years ago, returned it Tuesday to the family of Sadao Yasue. They had never gotten his body or — until that moment — anything else of his.
Yasue and Tatsuya’s sister Sayoko Furuta, 93...covered her face with both hands and wept silently as Tatsuya placed the flag on her lap.
...
The flag’s white background is filled with signatures of 180 friends and neighbors in this tea-growing mountain village of Higashishirakawa, wishing Yasue’s safe return. The signatures helped Strombo find its rightful owners.
“Good luck forever at the battlefield,” a message on it reads. Looking at the names and their handwriting, Tatsuya Yasue clearly recalls their faces and friendship with his brother.
...
The return of the flag brings closure, the 89-year-old farmer and younger brother of Sadao Yasue told The Associated Press at his 400-year-old house on Monday. “It’s like the war has finally ended and my brother can come out of limbo.”
...
He had the flag hung in a glass-fronted gun cabinet in his home in Montana for years, a topic of conversation for visitors. He was in the battles of Saipan, Tarawa and Tinian, which chipped away at Japan’s control of islands in the Pacific and paved the way for U.S. victory.
In 2012, he was connected to the Obon Society, an Oregon-based nonprofit that helps U.S. veterans and their descendants return Japanese flags to the families of fallen soldiers. The group’s research traced it to the village of 2,300 people in central Japan by analyzing family names.
Tuesday’s handover meant a closure for Strombo too. “It means so much to me and the family to get the flag back and move on,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at marinecorpstimes.com ...
The Imperial Japanese army were sadistic bastards who deserved more than the fire bombing of Tokyo and two A bombs.
With that said.....
Marvin Strombo walked the walk during a very tough time in our history.
He can do as he pleases with his trophies. He earned it.
Well said.
Do you notice that showing compassion for those who fought on the losing side, giving their lives to defend their country, is seen as a good thing, except when we’re talking about Confederates?
We have never held bitterness against those we have fought against. This is essentially because we distinguish society from government, and we recognize that things are complex.
The left is reverting to the old ways of confusing society and government, casting things as black or white, and judging others because of their color, their religion, or their nationality.
Well said.
I wonder if Japan has a similar organization that returns the personal effects of fallen WWII Americans.Doubt it.
The Confederates were us. Americans as much as any Yankee.
+1
Yup. Dad fought at Saipan and Okinawa also had a flag, but I have no idea what happened to it as he died suddenly when I was a child and most of his stuff disappeared. Had it still been in the family, I would have kept it as it was a memory of Dad's WWII service. Nevertheless, it was a benevolent act on Mr. Strombo's part...
Thank you.
Heck, without the souvenir taking, this flag would have been lost, buried, destroyed, 75 years ago. Now, it's been returned by a man who earned the right to return it. An excellent story, all around.
Yeah. They had a habit at least until recently of denying they ever did anything wrong. And meanwhile boo-hooing on end-of-war nukes and the bad Americans.
I doubt it very seriously.
I do think that the occupation forces may have happened across some things like that and....handled the situation.
Agreed—good comment.
” I read the article, and it mentioned several times the “guilt” soldiers felt for taking the flags as souvenirs. I’ve not come across that with any of the veterans I know, was wondering if this was a little revisionism on the part of the author. “
Same here. Jap flag from Iwo Jima is in a cedar chest in the bedroom. Couldn’t care less whose it is; they waged war and the flag taken. If you don’t want to lose something you hold dear, don’t wage war.
Same thing with the Indians we fought. (Some of whom were slaveowners.) Why is nobody calling for the removal of statues of Indians? The reason is because the left is animated by hatred of everything American, European, and Christian. They are so filled with hate, they have lost sensibility and reason.
Exactly. Communism and Naziism are opposites. They are rivals. The opposite of Communism and Naziism, both of them, is freedom.
The Japanese of WWII were very racist.
“a little revisionism on the part of the author”
Possibly so. Japan and the US are on the precipice of a shooting war as allies against North Korea. This kind of feel good ‘healing’ story could be part of an effort to smooth over any residual resentment.
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