Courtesy Photo | Brig. Gen. Steven Beach (right of flag), along with members of the New Mexico National...... read more read more
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By Brig. Gen. (ret.) Steven Beach, Oregon National Guard
SANTA FE, New Mexico - On October 26, 2019, the New Mexico Military Museum held a ceremony to start the process of returning a World War II Japanese “Good Luck Flag” (Yosegaki Hinomaru), which has long been held as a World War II artifact in the museum.
The Adjutant General of the New Mexico National Guard, Maj. Gen. Kenneth A. Nava presided over the ceremony, sponsored by the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society and the museum.
The OBON Society, an Oregon-based non-profit, received the flag and began the process of finding the family in Japan. This event is historic because the OBON Society has returned about 300 WWII flags so far; however, this is the first one received from a military museum. It was an honor to be invited to this historic ceremony because I support the repatriation process and value Oregon’s past and present ties to the New Mexico National Guard.
The founders of the OBON Society, Rex and Keiko Ziak, have collected flags from members of the 41st Infantry Division in years past, establishing a pattern of diligent and detailed research to uncover enough details in the writing on the flag to pinpoint the region and town in Japan of its origin. With their success, the efforts are therapeutic to both the American and Japanese families, sometimes answering questions and healing emotional wounds buried by more than seven decades of deeply-held feelings.
Rex and Keiko Ziak started returning good luck flags for a very personal reason. Keiko’s grandfather was lost in WWII, and his flag eventually came back. She knew how much the return meant to her and how much it would mean to other families, too. Some of the first flags Rex and Keiko received were from members of the 41st Infantry Division who served in World War II.
The Division, from the Northwestern States, had some of the toughest fighting in the Pacific against Japanese forces on various islands during World War II, with their final action in clearing the Southern Philippines. When the Division cased its colors in the late 1960s, the Army named the 41st Infantry Brigade as its successor to bear its lineage and honors.
The 41st IBCT flag bears the battle streamers of the Division, and the Brigade has a responsibility to maintain the history, honor the successes, and uphold the reputation that so many toiled, bled, and often died to earn over the years, especially during World War II.
The New Mexican units, the 200th and 515th Coast Artillery, sent 1,816 Soldiers to serve in WWII, and 829 were killed or died and did not come home. The 200th and 515th served in the area near Manila in the Philippines during WWII and defended Bataan and Corregidor until their surrender to the Japanese Forces in April of 1942.
Over the years, the U.S. Army changed the organizational structure of the New Mexico National Guard, as it has in Oregon, and the 200th is now an infantry unit. Today, Soldiers and other New Mexican citizens honor the heritage and noble service, responsibly maintaining the outstanding reputation that so many New Mexicans toiled, bled, and often died to earn. They may also have more reason than most to hold onto old grudges because of their treatment by the Japanese during World War II.
Many of the children of Bataan Death March survivors attended the ceremony in New Mexico. The drive to return the Good Luck Flag displayed at the New Mexico Military Museum was spearheaded by one of these family members, Margaret Garcia, whose father was a Bataan Death March survivor. Unfortunately, Bataan Death March survivors themselves are nearly all gone because it has been so long, but anyone who has read about Bataan and knows the brutality of the captors and the extreme conditions of the 65-mile forced march.
The Survivors and their family members, despite an often deep-seated emotion and anger, are now gratified with the return of the flag, understanding its emotional importance to the Japanese family. The act of returning the flag highlights our shared humanity.
There is nothing more basic to human nature than relating to others. Yet, healthy relations are difficult to maintain even in the best of times because of the underlying host of emotions, perhaps the full range, which must be balanced through individual effort and control. Each one of us must put the “human” into the “being” by understanding and controlling how we choose to feel or at least choose to act based on how we feel.
In war, it’s more difficult than in normal life due to the nature of war. Returning a hard-won war trophy, perhaps the result of a fight to the death, even 75 years later, it still evokes strong emotions. But, over time, many old World War II Veterans came to the realization that it is time to forgive, both the enemy and themselves, for suspending their humanity during war (sometimes necessary to survival for a time) and move on to reclaim that bit of their humanity that was suspended during the war. It’s not an easy process.
The decision to return a Good Luck Flag may not be an easy one, but as Rex Ziak put it, “Hating, despising and feeling distrust towards someone with whom we have been to war is an old trait reaching back to our primitive roots... What we hear time and time again from WWII Veterans is how many decades of their lives were wasted hating the Japanese. The hatred hardened their hearts and robbed them of joy.”
Rex would like it if all of us across America were to make an effort towards returning WWII heirlooms to bereaved families in time for the 75th Anniversary. “This show of compassion and reconciliation would become an enormous healing moment for everyone while sending a loud message to the world reaffirming the friendship between America and Japan,” he said.
The OBON Society has returned 300 flags in the first ten years of existence as a non-profit, with 900 more that are entrusted to the Society to return. They have seen a substantial amount of healing. The ceremony in New Mexico was a dignified and proper send-off for the flag. I was glad to be able to attend and witness the wonderful act of forgiveness and humanity in a simple ceremony.
| Date Taken: | 11.04.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 04.17.2025 20:29 |
| Story ID: | 495623 |
| Location: | SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO, US |
| Web Views: | 121 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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