Relatives of fallen soldier Masamoto Abe will soon receive a second wartime Hinomaru, which were typically signed by friends and family and carried into battle by Japanese troops during the war.
The flag has been mailed from Astoria, Oregon, to Abe's kin in Yokohama.
In April, Ralph Wood, 85, contacted Obon Society — a nonprofit organization that, over the past 9 years, has returned more than 200 flags to Japanese families who lost soldiers in the war — on behalf of the Gold Bar, Washington, post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars to determine whether "the mysterious flag" on the club's wall was authentic.