“We knew that the right thing to do would be to send the flag home, to be in Japan and to the family.” The soldier's eldest son, Toshihiro Mutsuda, was speechless for a few seconds when ...

American troops often took Japanese soldiers’ belongings as trophies.The most common items were flags called “Yosegaki Hinomaru,” inscribed with names and messages from family and friends ...

Everywhere one looked, sailors and soldiers filled every available ... [that] was the first American flag hoisted over ...