A fallen soldier's flag returned to his family after 72 years

(Web Desk) – A U.S. Marine who served during the World War II traveled back to Japan to return a Japanese flag he found on the body of an enemy soldier.
Marvin Strombo found the Japanese flag and vowed to return it to the family of the fallen soldier.

 Former Marine Marvin Strombo, 93, holds a Japanese flag during a press conference in Tokyo. Strombo came to Japan to return the calligraphy-covered keepsake he took from a fallen Japanese soldier during World War II. Photo: stars and stripes

The war veteran traveled after 72 years, since Japan surrendered, to a remote village in Japan and returned the calligraphy-covered Japanese flag to the family of Sadao Yasue.

According to Reuters, Sadao Yasue belonged to a farming town in central Japan. He was the eldest of his siblings. Yasue carried a Japanese flag covered with signature messages of his family and friends.

 Picture of the young Japanese soldier, Sadao Yasue. Photo: AP

Strombo, the 93-year-old U.S. Marine veteran, said that he found the flag on Yasue’s body on the island of Saipan after the battle in 1944.
"I finally realised that if I didn t take it, somebody else would have and it would be lost forever," Strombo said in an interview provided by U.S. forces.

According to the Telegraph, Strombo traveled from the state of Montana U.S. to Japan after the family of Yasue was tracked down.

 Former Marine Marvin Strombo, 93, hands a Japanese flag to the family of the fallen soldier he took it from in 1944 on Saipan. Photo: stars and stripes

He stated that he was trying to return the flag soon after the war but didn’t know how. A non-profit Oregon based organisation Obon Society, helped the war veteran to track down the fallen soldier’s family.

The family welcomed the flag with tears.

Yasue carried the flag which had 180 signatures signed by his friends and neighbours wishing him good luck and safe return.

"It means so much to me and the family to get the flag back and move on," Strombo said.

"It was a very emotional moment," Strombo said, noting that he was especially moved by the response of one of Yasue s sisters.

 Sayoko Furuta, 93, gets emotional after a Japanese flag with autographed messages which was owned by her brother Sadao Yasue, was returned during a ceremony in Higashishirakawa, Photo: N.W. Huertas/U.S. Marine Corps

"I saw her holding that flag, about broke my heart, you know," he added. "That s the reason I was glad I returned it too."