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Change Your Life! |
Relative of WWII soldier returns flag to family of dead Japanese soldier |
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May 31, 2000 war.
The flag comes as a gift from the step-grandson of an American soldier who died four years ago without ever explaining how he came into possession of it.
"I just thought if my dad was killed, I would want it (the flag) back," said Joseph Seredick, the step-grandson of Edward Schuett, a former U.S. Marine corporal.
Seredick, 35, spent eight months searching for the owner of the flag, which was given to him last year by his aunt. With the help of the Japanese Embassy in Washington, Seredick located the brother-in-law of Yoshiaki Kondo, the soldier killed in the Battle of Saipan in 1944.
On May 12, Seredick, who lives in the Chicago suburb of Cary, forwarded the flag to the Japanese Embassy for delivery to Kondo's family. The flag will be given to the Japanese family after an enclosed letter is translated into Japanese from English, which could take a few days, Japanese Foreign Ministry official Hideya Hoshi said Monday.
As with many returning soldiers, Schuett was reluctant to discuss his experiences. He said he was a radio operator during the battle in 1944, but added few details, including whether he was the one who had killed the Japanese soldier.
"The majority of World War II veterans saw some pretty horrific things," Seredick said. "When they came home, they wanted to put the war behind them, raise their families, send them to school - and that's what he did."
Robert Seredick, Schuett's stepson, first saw the flag as a teen-ager when Schuett took it out of its box - one of the handful of times he ever did so - and explained its significance. Schuett pointed to brown smears and told the boy they were the blood of a dead soldier. Japanese soldiers traditionally kept the flags folded inside their uniform pockets.
On the side of the flag was written, "Wishing you ever-lasting good luck in war." It is signed by nearly 60 family members and friends from the soldier's neighborhood outside Nagoya, a large city in Japan.
When Seredick mailed the flag, he enclosed a letter to Kondo's family, saying he hoped "that this small gesture will help honor Kondo-san's memory."
Taichi Ono, an official with the Japanese Embassy in Washington, told the Chicago Tribune he receives word of swords, flags and other artifacts that Americans are hoping to return perhaps every other week.
If relatives in Japan can be located, the item is sent on. But, Ono said, "Not so often do we find the families."
The Kondo relatives sent word they did not want to comment on the flag, the newspaper said.
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