Obon Society Flag Return Program

KBOO News reporter Tom Flynn visited the Maritime Museum in Astoria, Oregon and was surprised to find that one of the exhibits was about the work of a local non-profit, the Obon Society, that returns "trophy flags" that soldiers captured during World War II to Japanese families.  The story includes interviews with the husband and wife team that founded the society and carries out its work.  They accept flags from the families of soldiers, mostly here in the US, and work to identify the origin and family in Japan.  In some cases they have been able to return flags to family members for whom this is the first connection they have ever made with sons who went to war and never came back.