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Blood stained Japanese flag from Battle of Saipan


M1A1-1944
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I picked this grouping up at an estate sale earlier this year.  This flag was sent home by the veteran and luckily a period newspaper article written by the local paper was also kept by the family.  If you read down about 8 lines it describes what this Marine sent home.  The flag had to have had some copious amounts of blood on it due to a few areas that actually scabbed up.  Also included were the Marine's ID, pictures, and a family photo possibly of the Japanese soldier the flag was taken from.

 

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Alan Schaefer

It's fantastic to have not only the name of the Marine who brought this blood stained Japanese flag home, but to have his photos, ID Card, and a newspaper article that talks about him sending this flag home, that's the real "icing on the cake" so as to say! It does not get any better than this!

 

Congratulations on this excellent addition to your collection!

 

Did the family still have the Japanese sword it talks about in the newspaper article?  And/or the former US grenade box that the flag was mailed home in that is also mentioned in the newspaper article?

 

Best Wishes,

 

Alan

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aerialbridge

I just saw Wind Talkers on cable the other day, depicting the invasion of Saipan and the Japanese defenders with their Arisaka's festooned with the hinomaru figured prominently in the movie.

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13 hours ago, Alan Schaefer said:

It's fantastic to have not only the name of the Marine who brought this blood stained Japanese flag home, but to have his photos, ID Card, and a newspaper article that talks about him sending this flag home, that's the real "icing on the cake" so as to say! It does not get any better than this!

 

Congratulations on this excellent addition to your collection!

 

Did the family still have the Japanese sword it talks about in the newspaper article?  And/or the former US grenade box that the flag was mailed home in that is also mentioned in the newspaper article?

 

Best Wishes,

 

Alan

 

Unfortunately these were the only items left in the estate.

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