By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Ortonville — When Jim Walters returned from war he arrived with a relic that provides reflections of both sides of World War II in the Pacific Theater.
Walters acquired a yosegaki hinomaru or Japanese Good Luck flag, carried into battle adorned with a distinctive red circular sun on a field of white often signed by well-wishers, friends, family, along with other servicemen.
The flag Walters obtained 80 years ago is now part of a display provided by The Ortonville Community Historical Society which has three Good Luck flags from the WWII era in its collection. The origin of the other two flags remains unknown. Alan Allgaier, OCHS president recently completed a study on the three flags that have been a fixture in the Military displays at the Old Mill Museum for many years.
Following publication of the flags origins earlier this year, Jim Walter’s daughter Anne Walters, a Hadley Township resident, reported she had donated the flag to the historical society a few years ago.
Anne shared her father’s story and the history of the flag.
“Growing up during the Great Depression dad spent much of his childhood living in a rural West Virginia orphanage,” said Anne. “Like many young men at this time enlisting in the Army was a step in the right direction and a way out.”
As a result he “stretched” his age of 17 years, six months, she said.
“The Army meant regular meals and a consistent place to sleep, camaraderie plus money in his pocket,” she said.
Jim was stationed in Panama, then became a paratrooper attached to the 11th Airborne Angels. He was sent to the South Pacific theater and, for the next four years, saw heavy combat and was severely wounded. The multiple combat jungle missions, bad food, combat wounds and severe PTSD took their toll.
“Since dad left no next of kin with the Army, he and others in similar situations were volunteered for suicide missions,” she said. “That’s how dad described it.”
In February 1945 Jim was shot in the chest during the Battle of Manila. The bullet missed his aorta by a quarter of an inch then passed through and out the other side.
“After a short recovery dad returned to his unit,” she said.
At some point during Jim’s tour of duty he befriended a Bill Parker who allegedly worked with the CIA and had observed the nuclear tests in the United States. Following the dropping of the atomic bomb on the Japanese City of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, Parker was ordered to write a report after he observed the devastation from a distance.
“It was sometime after the surrender that Parker obtained the flag for my father from mainland Japan,” she said. “That was his story.”
The flag is dated Dec. 23, 1945 months after the war ended.
Parker died in 2004 of lymphoma, often prevalent among survivors of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, suggesting a link between radiation exposure and cancer.
After the war, the Walter family moved from West Virginia to the Brandon Township area to work in the auto plants.
The Japanese flag was passed on to Jim Walter’s son James Edward the II who served in Special Forces from 1969-71 during the Vietnam War. James held on to the flag until about 10 years ago when he mailed it to Anne.
Jim Walters passed away in 1989 and is buried in Ortonville.
In Japan, these flags often included good-luck messages inscribed on them, wishing the bearer good fortune and luck in battle.  All of this was written in ink calligraphy.  Some were blessed in religious ceremonies and often Japanese soldiers carried these flags with them during military service as a personal item to remind them of home.
The flags will remain on display at the Old Mill during a special exhibition showing through the end of April. At that time the OCHS will repatriate these back to Japan to be returned to descendants and communities from which they originated.