Original Japanese WWII U.S. Navy 28th Construction Battalion Captured Silk Flag with 47 Signatures - 25 x 31”

Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is a lovely USGI Bring Back from WWII: an original Japanese WWII "Meatball" National flag, captured and personalized by the soldiers that captured it. They added their names and hometowns, with some having nicknames. There are a staggering 47 names total, and due to the difficulty of WWII research, we weren’t able to turn up records for most of these men. But there are three, Homer F. Dick, Clifton J. Dodge, and Henry “Hank” Doneski, who were serving together with the 28th Construction Battalion in December 1945, and we believe these three more or less identify the unit. 

The flag measures 25 x 31”, and looks to be made from silk or rayon, and is in fair shape with the leather tabs still intact with their ropes. The body of the flag is white, with a red "sun round" dyed into the middle. The flag has extremely heavy wear with tearing and four large holes in the dyed sun. Additionally, due to the ink that many of these men used, many of the signatures have become holes in the flag themselves from the deterioration of the material. It has the expected age toning, and areas where the fabric has torn due to wear. This example would look amazing in a frame. 

This is a fantastic flag that is worthy of further research. As noted, we were only able to link three soldiers to the 28th Construction Battalion, but with work, you could likely identify more! A great USGI bring back flag from the Pacific Theater of WWII, ready to research and display!