Bill Williams, of Calhoun City, was listening to National Public Radio one day when he heard a story that struck a chord with him.
The radio report chronicled how some aging veterans of World War II were on a mission to return Japanese flags taken as war souvenirs from Pacific battlefields.
Williams has one of those battle flags sitting on a shelf in his home.
He inherited the flag from his cousin Earl Twomey Jr. of Jackson, Tn, who served with U.S. Army 37th Division 129 Regiment during the war and was awarded a Bronze Star Medal for heroic achievement. He also earned the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one star.
“He never shared any of his war stories,” Williams said. “He always kept all that to himself.”
Williams said he’s one of only a few living relatives, so the flag was passed down to him many years ago.
He’s kept it sitting on a shelf stuffed in the tubular 60 MM Mortar Shell container as he received it.
“I often wonder what kind of stories go with this thing,” Williams said pointing at the container.
The Japanese flag Bill inherited is approximately three feet by two feet covered with Japanese markings, believed to be signatures and messages from the soldiers who once possessed it.
“I know this flag would mean a lot more to the families of these soldiers than sitting on my shelf,” Williams said.
The Japanese consulates in Seattle, Portland and elsewhere have gotten dozens of inquiries from American veterans or their family members asking how to return war memorabilia. And now a Northwest-based nonprofit has sprung up. A Japanese-American couple from Naselle, Washington, Rex and Keiko Ziak, co-founded the group Obon 2015 to facilitate the return of flags.
“Each one is in most cases the last surviving trace of that one individual,” Rex Ziak said. “Back home are wives, children, brothers and sisters who lost that person. Nothing ever came back.”
The Ziaks send the inscribed flags back with help from Japan. Scholars, government ministry workers, a veterans group and an association of Shinto priests pore over high resolution digital scans for clues.
Rex Ziak compares the task to identifying the owner of a yearbook from the notes scribbled inside the cover — seven decades later.
The nonprofit has received nearly 100 flags to date. Of those, original owner’s families have been identified for about 25.
According to Keiko Ziak, the reappearance of these flags after such a long time provokes a wide range of reactions among relatives of the fallen.
“On the Japanese side, they are shocked (at first) because they don’t know that still exists to return to their family,” she said. “Then secondly, they feel their father, or brother, are coming back home. They feel so overwhelmed – very powerful, spiritual and meaningful.”
Hiroshi Furusawa is the Japanese Consul General in Portland. He told the Americans at the returning ceremony that they were doing a “wonderful and honorable thing.”
“Your courage – their courage – did not end on the battlefield, but extends to this very day and beyond in the joy and profound emotional healing you help to bring to families in Japan,” Furusawa said.
“I would gladly give it back if it can get back to the correct families,” Williams said of the flag he has.
Editor’s Note: NPR News contributed information for this story.