OBON Society Blog

Patriots Point to return war-torn WWII flags to Japanese families

Flags belonging to Japanese soldiers from World War II may soon be reunited with the families of the servicemembers.

Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum recently sent three of these so-called Good Luck Flags to a non-profit that specializes in these reunifications.

“In the Japanese culture, they believe that the spirit is imbued in these flags; these are the actual soldier,” Director of Collections Meredith Kablick said. “Since many of them never made it home, the flag is all that's left of them.”

Many American soldiers took the Japanese flags home with them as war trophies, Kablick said.

Patriots Point to return war-torn WWII flags to Japanese families (WCIV)
The three silk flags contained Japanese characters on them and were likely signed by friends and family.

Patriots Point recently learned of the idea from a military museum in Texas, which gave a flag to the OBON SOCIETY, who has successfully returned more than 500 items to Japanese families, according to their website.

“It feels like it's a part of a good faith effort on us to return these and try to make peace for these families that never got their loved ones back,” Kablick said.