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U.S. veteran keeps WWII promise, returns flag to family of fallen Japanese fighter

WATCH ABOVE: U.S. veteran returns Japanese flag to fallen soldier's family — 72 years after Japan's surrender in the Second World War – Aug 16, 2017

When U.S. Marine Marvin Strombo found a Japanese flag on the body of an enemy soldier during the Second World War, he took and promised to one day return it to the family of his fallen foe.

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That vow was fulfilled on Tuesday, exactly 72 years after Japan’s surrender, when Strombo, 93, handed the flag to the brother and sisters of Sadao Yasue.

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Yasue, the eldest of six children from a farming town in central Japan, followed a common practice of carrying into battle a Japanese flag covered with messages and the signatures of family and friends.

Strombo said he found the flag on Yasue’s body after a 1944 battle on the island of Saipan, the site of fierce fighting in the Pacific war.

“I finally realized that if I didn’t take it, somebody else would have and it would be lost forever,” Strombo said in an interview provided by U.S. forces.

“So the only way I could do that, as I reached out to take the flag, I made a promise to him that some day I would try to return it,” said Strombo, who travelled from Montana to Japan.

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Strombo said he had intended to return the flag soon after the war but did not know how. About five years ago he was put in touch with a non-profit group that helps U.S. veterans return artifacts to relatives.

The group tracked down Yasue’s family, who welcomed the flag tearfully.

“It was a very emotional moment,” Strombo said, noting that he was especially moved by the response of one of Yasue’s sisters.

“I saw her holding that flag — about broke my heart, you know,” he added. “That’s the reason I was glad I returned it, too.”

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