{"id":28167,"date":"2017-08-15T18:57:39","date_gmt":"2017-08-15T18:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/08\/15\/wwii-marine-vet-returns-dead-japanese-soldiers-flag\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T06:10:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:10:12","slug":"wwii-marine-vet-returns-dead-japanese-soldiers-flag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/2017\/08\/15\/wwii-marine-vet-returns-dead-japanese-soldiers-flag\/","title":{"rendered":"WWII Marine vet returns dead Japanese soldier’s flag"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

HIGASHISHIRAKAWA, Japan \u2014 Tatsuya Yasue buried his face into the flag and smelled it. Then he held the 93-year-old hands that brought this treasure home, and kissed them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u2014 until that moment \u2014 anything else of his.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yasue and Tatsuya\u2019s sister Sayoko Furuta, 93, sitting in her wheelchair, covered her face with both hands and wept silently as Tatsuya placed the flag on her lap. Strombo reached out and gently rubbed her shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was so happy that I returned the flag,\u201d Strombo said. \u201cI can see how much the flag meant to her. That almost made me cry … It meant everything in the world to her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flag\u2019s white background is filled with signatures of 180 friends and neighbors in this tea-growing mountain village of Higashishirakawa, wishing Yasue\u2019s safe return. The signatures helped Strombo find its rightful owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood luck forever at the battlefield,\u201d a message on it reads. Looking at the names and their handwriting, Tatsuya Yasue clearly recalls their faces and friendship with his brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The smell of the flag immediately brought back childhood memories. \u201cIt smelled like my good old big brother, and it smelled like our mother\u2019s home cooking we ate together,\u201d Tatsuya Yasue said. \u201cThe flag will be our treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. \u201cIt\u2019s like the war has finally ended and my brother can come out of limbo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tatsuya Yasue last saw his older brother alive the day before he left for the South Pacific in 1943. He and two siblings had a small send-off picnic for the oldest brother outside his military unit over sushi and Japanese sweet mochi. At the end of the meeting, his brother whispered to Tatsuya, asking him to take good care of their parents, as he would be sent to the Pacific islands, harsh battlegrounds where chances of survival were low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n