Annespoem

"The poem is centered around a Japanese flag that my dad brought back. Interestingly the flag left Japan, went to Burma, lived in Scotland, all across Canada. It ended its stay on Vancouver Island. Ironically my dad died of food poison at the age of 65. The flag is almost back in Japan again. It is indeed like the Rising Sun making a full circle.

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan (PACAFNS) -- Fifty two years of grieving came to an end Feb. 6 for the Japanese family of Masaichi Ando when the battle flag he took

to war for good luck was returned by the nephew of a past U.S. soldier. Ando, a Japanese soldier, was killed in a battle fought between the U.S. and Japan during World War 11.

Roger Jarvis, a resident of Anchorage, Alaska, recently sent Ando’s battle flag to officials at Yokota Air Base, Japan, asking them to return it to the Ando family.

During an emotional ceremony at United States Forces Japan headquarters, 5th Air Force Vice Commander Brig. Gen. Ed LaFountaine presented the flag to members of the soldier’s surviving family. He spoke of the Japanese soldier with reverence.

“He was a brave soldier who, in the face of overwhelming odds, served his country with honor and made the ultimate sacrifice,” said Lafountaine.

He said Ando was a 32 year old patriot when he was drafted into the Japanese service, leaving behind a wife and three daughters with another on the way.

In a letter written to the Ando family, Jarvis explained that his uncle, 1st Ltd. David Rogers, a soldier in the U.S. Army Infantry assigned to the 158th Regimental Combat Team, originally took the flag during a battle fought north of Manila. He explained in the letter that his uncle had always wanted to return the flag but was unsuccessful. Jarvis was given the flag following Rogers death several years ago.

The battle flag was signed by members of Ando’s family , community and religious leaders in hopes that it would keep him safe from harm.

The exact circumstances surrounding Ando’s death in the Philippines remain cloudy.

Jarvis hoped that by returning the flag to the Ando family it would help shed light on a father they barely knew.

Of the Japanese soldier’s four daughters attending the ceremony, the youngest, Katsue, wasn’t born until after he left for combat. She knows her father only from what others have told her through the years. Several times during the ceremony she broke into tears as she listened to the circumstances surrounding her father’s service to his country and the flag’s return.

The family plans to take the flag to their father’s final resting place and present it as a tribute in honor of his memory.