War leaves behind destruction and pain. For many, World War II has left lasting scars.
But, through the years, the United States and Japan have forged new paths. No longer enemies, an allyship was forged.
For one organization, that friendship plays a huge role in how families of fallen Japanese soldiers are able to find closure, even after all these years.
It all starts with a Good Luck Flag.
Japan’s flag was sent with soldiers to war. A soldier’s family and friends would cover it with messages and signatures – it would go with them to each place they went, even to the battlefield. When they died, oftentimes it would be taken by Allied soldiers, and lost to the families.
Until the Obon Society came along in 2007. Started by Rex and Keiko Ziak, the nonprofit began after Keiko’s family received her grandfather’s flag 62 years after his death during World War II. Her family, she said, found relief and joy having a personal item of his returned to them.
“An absolute miracle” is how Keiko described it.
It was the strong spirit of grandfather wanting to come home.”
Keiko and her husband wanted to help other families find their miracles, as well. As they began their work, word of mouth spread and artifacts and flags began streaming in.
Obon, which is a Japanese Buddhist custom that honors an ancestor’s spirits, has been a custom for more than 500 years. The society has 30 volunteers, including Japanese scholars, to help locate family members.
More than 500 such flags have been returned to families and communities.
Rex said that each Good Luck Flag that is found, represents the love of all those who cared for the soldier, and signed a message on it. It makes each flag ‘precious’, he said.
For one family, it also meant one final act of love for their mother, who died at age 102, just a short time before the flag of her husband was found.
Shigeyoshi Mutsuda was killed in action during World War II. His body was never recovered.
This (flag) is all that’s left of this man” to return to his family, Rex said.
“(The families) feel exactly the same as Americans when they receive the bones or teeth” of relatives who were identified and returned decades after being killed in war, Rex said.
Matsuda’s flag was donated by an unknown person in 1994 to the USS Lexington Museum in Texas. It had been displayed on the ship since then. The flag seemed destined to make its way back to the Mutsuda family. One of his sons, who is now 82, saw a picture of the flag, and immediately recognized it as his father’s.
The flag will be placed with Matsuda’s wife. Their two sons and a daughter delayed the funeral until the flag could be returned.
The Good Luck flag being returned to the Matsuda family. Photo by USA Today
Rex and Keiko also have learned the act of returning a flag can be satisfying and even heartwarming for Americans, especially veterans and their families.
Ralph Wood, a retired Marine who served during the Korean War, couldn’t agree more. He helped the Obon Society return a flag to another Japanese family.. After he located the flag recently at the Gold Bar VFW in Washington, he wrote a letter to the other members of the VFW and they all agreed the flag needed to be returned. He said in an e-mail to the post commander, “This strikes me as a righteous thing to do.”
The post commander agreed, and in the letter to the family, had this to say. “… We all have vivid memories of young friends who were killed while doing what they felt was their duty: serving their country. We sometimes wonder who else is remembering them and the life they never got to live. We are very pleased to know that this flag is being returned to its place of origin and into the custody of those who knew and honored the man who carried it into battle.”
Watch below as the flag is returned during a ceremony in Texas.
