Questions on some flags and in need of translation help

[FightenIrish35]

Well Im starting to really enjoy WW2 army flags and ended up winning this lot on ebay from the son of the marine who brought them back from okinawa. His father was only 18 when enlisted and wounded on Okinawa and these must have come from there as it was the only battle he participated in(still looking into his history)
Anyways here are the three flags...the first one here is in pretty good condition with average dirt to it....i know that the letters on the far right going down stand for good luck going into battle but not sure about the kanji letter on top and elsewhere on this flag...would really appreciate any translation help or thoughts on it....

[FightenIrish35]

Second flag...

This is the second one in the group measure 24 by 36 pretty clean

[FightenIrish35]

and the third one

this one is the third in the group and is pretty grungy...looks like rust or maybe blood stain and its basically soaked with dirt....picture makes it look alot better than it is...

[Nick Komiya]

On the top, it says the flag was dedicated to a guy named Misawa (somewhat unusal for the first name not to be mentioned), otherwise the reast are names and slogans, nothing that gives further background to this flag.

[FightenIrish35]

many thanks!

Your the man Nick! Thanks a lot. Its good to know now part of the original soldiers name. Have you seen other examples with just a last name before?

[Nick Komiya]

No, I personally don't remember seeing examples without the first name, but there isn't too much significance in that. It's just that it would have been the etiquette to write his full name.
However, if the people signing were close enough to him to dispense of such formalities, this can happen, as the Japanese almost never address each other by first name, unless within immediate family. The flag says Misawa-kun, kun being a suffix to denote a relationship that is not formal (his male colleagues would have simply called him "Misawa"). This is similar to the two ways you say "you" in German; "Sie" in a formal context and "du" when you are on friendlier terms. As a matter of fact, because the first name never really gets used, not knowing a friend's first name is not an uncommon thing.
Even among close friends, sending someone off to war was a solemn occasion, more so in Japan, because it was synonymous with sending him off to his death. So friends would normally address him by his full name on a flag that is meant to be an epitaph to a friend they will never see again, or as some would write on a flag, "We'll see each other in Yasukuni (our spirits will meet again at Yasukuni Shrine where dead war heroes are enshrined).

[FightenIrish35]

Nick,Thanks so much.This is some great information I can keep with this flag now. I was hesitant to go for these flags but the price was right and it had solid providence from the son of the marine soldier.Thanks as well for the translation!

The second flag that isnt signed and that is very off an odd shape for most of the flags that ive seen and have its seem to be shorter horizantaly and the same size vertically. I dont have the flags in front of me right now but compared to other flags have that are verticaly the same size,horizantally wise it is about 3 to 4 inches of a diference. Are some flags sometimes this off in size?