Military

WW II battle flag unites granddaughter of US Marine and great-niece of Japanese soldier

New York was the meeting place this month for two women whose grandfather and great-uncle met as enemies on a World War II battlefield in the South Pacific.

Kelly Cowin, 34, of Riverton, Utah, and Ayaka Sano, 34, of Toyko, Japan, became connected through the tragedy of war — and a Japanese battle flag, according to The Journal News.

The flag belonged to Sano’s great-uncle, Fujio Kawasaki, the paper reported.

You've reached your daily free article limit.

Subscribe and support our veteran writing staff to continue reading.

Get Full Ad-Free Access For Just $0.50/Week

Enjoy unlimited digital access to our Military Culture, Defense, and Foreign Policy coverage content and support a veteran owned business. Already a subscriber?

New York was the meeting place this month for two women whose grandfather and great-uncle met as enemies on a World War II battlefield in the South Pacific.

Kelly Cowin, 34, of Riverton, Utah, and Ayaka Sano, 34, of Toyko, Japan, became connected through the tragedy of war — and a Japanese battle flag, according to The Journal News.

The flag belonged to Sano’s great-uncle, Fujio Kawasaki, the paper reported.

Mortally wounded during fighting on Guam in 1944, the 19-year-old Kawasaki held the flag out to another 19-year-old, Marine Gil McCormack and Cowin’s grandfather, according to the paper.

McCormack, the lone survivor of his 30-man unit on Guam, kept the flag, stashed in the attic, haunted by Kawasaki’s death.

Read more at Fox News

Image courtesy of chicagoimmigrationlawyer-blog

About SOFREP News Team View All Posts

The SOFREP News Team is a collective of professional military journalists. Brandon Tyler Webb is the SOFREP News Team's Editor-in-Chief. Guy D. McCardle is the SOFREP News Team's Managing Editor. Brandon and Guy both manage the SOFREP News Team.

COMMENTS

You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article.

More from SOFREP

REAL EXPERTS.
REAL NEWS.

Join SOFREP for insider access and analysis.

TRY 14 DAYS FREE

Already a subscriber? Log In