Flag Questions

[TERRY-NAMVET]

My Mother In Law gave me this flag 45 years ago. ( I forgot I had it)

She said her son brought it back from the War.

I know her son was a Marine and he always said he was a China Marine.

The Flag is 39 inches by 28 inches.
It is reinforced in the two right corners.

The Japanese Signature also has what I think is an English Translation.
Is this Correct ?

It is also signed by the Veteran but not dated.
Anything anyone can tell me about the Flag would Help .

[gunto]

Its the japanese national flag.

[MikeB]

Flag Questions...

Hi Terry-
It's tough to really make an accurate assessment regarding the history of your flag but here are some possible explanations or scenarios; The flag does not appear to be a good luck flag since it lacks multiple Japanese signatures, slogans, etc. It is signed, however, with Japanese characters and then the accompanying name "Nakamura" is written in Western letters. Normally, when you see this it is found on flags that were signed during the Occupation of Japan. As an example, a Japanese friend or Japanese person employed by the U.S. military during the Occupation might present a flag as a gift to a U.S. serviceman with whom they were working and then sign in both Japanese and Western style script. On the other hand, early in the War, some Japanese would sign their names on flags in Western script but this quickly fell out of favor as the War progressed. It's possible that the flag may have originally been battlefield acquired and then remained with the Marine if he was later assigned to duty in Japan. The Marine who picked up the flag may have signed his name as you indicated. This was done at times to record the event of capture or to make sure that no one else could claim his flag at a later date. The Japanese name could have been added, post War.
Again, all I can offer are some possible explanations. There's just not enough there in the way of facts to give you firmer details. Sorry I could not help more. mikeb

[TERRY-NAMVET]

Hi Terry-
It's tough to really make an accurate assessment regarding the history of your flag but here are some possible explanations or scenarios; The flag does not appear to be a good luck flag since it lacks multiple Japanese signatures, slogans, etc. It is signed, however, with Japanese characters and then the accompanying name "Nakamura" is written in Western letters. Normally, when you see this it is found on flags that were signed during the Occupation of Japan. As an example, a Japanese friend or Japanese person employed by the U.S. military during the Occupation might present a flag as a gift to a U.S. serviceman with whom they were working and then sign in both Japanese and Western style script. On the other hand, early in the War, some Japanese would sign their names on flags in Western script but this quickly fell out of favor as the War progressed. It's possible that the flag may have originally been battlefield acquired and then remained with the Marine if he was later assigned to duty in Japan. The Marine who picked up the flag may have signed his name as you indicated. This was done at times to record the event of capture or to make sure that no one else could claim his flag at a later date. The Japanese name could have been added, post War.
Again, all I can offer are some possible explanations. There's just not enough there in the way of facts to give you firmer details. Sorry I could not help more. mikeb

Thank You Mike
The Marine has passed away and I am trying to find out what years he was in service and where, Hopefully I can get a copy of his DD-214.
His family members don't seem to know much.

I was Army and collect Vietnam Patches so I don't know much about Japanese Militaria.

[MikeB]

Flag Questions...

Hi Terry-
I wish I could have offered more but the flag provides so little in clues. It is neat that the vet signed his name on the flag. Whether wartime or post war, that is not often seen. If you find that he served in the Occupation of Japan, it would be my best guess that this is where the flag was signed. That still won't tell us whether the flag was acquired while fighting in the islands or not unless he shows no service during the island hopping campaigns. Once you have dates, you'll still be putting together a "story" but you'll at least have better "best guesses."
My brother served in VietNam with the army in a Duster unit from '68-'69. He was assigned to the Central Highlands and other "popular" locales. mikeb