Yosegaki Hinomaru once owned by Mr. Yoshinori Sakurai in WW2. George C. Marshall Foundation in Virginia sent the flag to OBON SOCIETY to help find and return it to the soldier’s family.
“Such reunion with my father would have never happened without your uncle’s thoughtfulness toward the flag and your arrangement..."
Daily Astorian featured about OBON SOCIETY's effort:
https://www.dailyastorian.com/.../article_ab84d1e8-8c32...
The George C. Marshall Foundation in Virginia recently sent a flag to OBON to search for the rightful owner, this is part of a growing return of artifacts from museums. Cathy DeSilvey, the director of the foundation’s recently closed museum, several years ago came across the flag.
“As I researched the flag to write a text label for it, I realized what a significant spiritual item it is,” she said in an email. “Our museum is not its true home, and (it) belongs to the family of the solder. This is when I became aware of the Obon Society, and of the complicated museum conversation about repatriating artifacts.”
Also in this article, Dionne Blaesing successfully returns the flag.
Blaesing's uncle, Neil Edgar Huard, served as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army’s 32nd Infantry Division in the Pacific and returned home to Michigan with a Yosegaki Hinomaru flag. At the age of 96, Huard had passed. Dionne found the flag while sorting through old boxes and contacted OBON.
The flag belonged to Noriatsu Yamaguchi's, a Japanese army captain. OBON located the family and returned the flag to Yamaguchi's daughter, Noriko Koishi. Koishi was only 9 years old when her father departed for war in 1944. Koishi and Blaesing contacted each other through letters, where Koishi thanked Blaesing for returning the spirit of her father.
You can watch more depth of the true peace and friendship in our Intimate Stories below link:
Uncle Bud-Part 1: https://youtu.be/7XVulAfr5J0
Uncle Bud-Part 2: https://youtu.be/73K0k4-Pkv0
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