Flag

Object Name:

Flag

Object ID:

2025.064.01

Place of Origin:

Japan

Date:

circa 1945

Description:

Flag. Framed WWII Japanese "good luck" flag, c. 1945, collected by US Marine William A. Fifield (1926-2008) while fighting at Iwo Jima in February and March 1945. The flag was signed by over fifty Marines with their hometowns. On the central red sun the men wrote "Easy Battery 2nd BN 13th Marines" followed by drawings of cross-shaped grave markers on a hilly landscape. The Japanese character in the printed top white portion of the flag, read, from right to left, in a rough translation, "good wishes" with an eagle perched above, followed by "continued luck in the fortunes of war" and then a name that is possibly Shingu Teruyoshi, and then at least six other names in a smaller size.

Material:

Textile

Dimensions:

H-40.625 W-30.625 D-0.625 inches

Provenance:

William Albert Fifield was born in Concord on May 28, 1926 to Edith Gordon Fifield (1901-1990) and Albert William Fifield (1903-1960). At the age of seventeen William enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on August 11, 1943. Private Fifield was assigned to E Battery, 2nd Battalion, 13th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division when he fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima in February and March of 1945. The flag was collected by William Fifield during the Battle of Iwo Jima and then brought back to Concord where it was displayed in the family home, a two-family house at 55-57 North Spring Street.

Credit Line:

Gift of Mark Fifield in honor of his father, William A. Fifield

People:

Fifield, William Albert (1926-2008)

Subjects:

World War II