33rd Inf. Div. Bring Back KIA Flag

[MichaelB]

I recently saw this flag posted on Ebay here in the U.S. and put a watch on it to take a closer look before the auction's end. The flag is made from a heavy silk and has gold foil corner tabs. The long tie strings are securely in the corners. The seller really knew nothing about this flag, but thought because of the cross hand painted in the red sun center and the accompanying names listed below it that it might somehow be related to a group of Christian missionaries.
I noticed that there were numerous fountain pen signatures listing the names and addresses of various men and suspected that the flag might have been a captured flag that was autographed by U.S. service personnel. I did a little bit of research (there is much more that can be done I am sure) and found that a few of the names belonged to fellows who were KIA from the 33rd. Inf. Div., 136th. Inf. Regt.
The names I was able to trace were from guys who lived in the mid-west which would correspond with the history of the 33rd. Bruno W. Golinski was KIA on 5-12-45 in the Philippines. Walter Schwertfegger was from IL and listed as KIA on 4-13-45. PFC Harold H. Rademacher was from MI and listed as KIA on 4-11-45. These soldiers are listed as buried in the military cemetery in the Manila, Philippines.

MichaelB

[MichaelB]

This is a close up of the center orb along with the names of the men who were KIA. You can see the rest of the artwork as well.

MichaelB

[MichaelB]

You might be able to see the names better from this photograph.
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MichaelB

[MichaelB]

This is an image of KIA PFC Harold Rademacher taken from his U.S. Govt. online file. His name is seen 4th on the list of names painted onto the red sun center.




MichaelB

[SteveR]

Flags like this use to be called capture flags. The guys in a unit would sign and address them.
This seems to be a nice one from the pacific with great art work.
The 33rd saw a lot of action in the Pacific and some occupation duty in Japan.

[MichaelB]

The unit (33rd.) was formed up in the Illinois/Michigan/ Ohio area with most of the fellows I tracked being from MI and IL. The signatures found in the white field list hometowns of Los Angeles, CA- Smiley, Texas (love the name!)- Chicago, IL- Dallas, TX- Kenosha, WI- and Maquon, IL, etc. On a similar note, I was lucky enough to find a Nazi flag that had similar (over 63) signatures. I was able to locate many of the guys from the unit and communicated with a number of them while they were alive. They arrived in Europe at a little party known as Normandy and finished up at Berchtesgaden. I sent the flag out of state to one of the guys that I befriended so that he could see his name signed on it. His local newspaper in West Virginia did a spot in the Sunday edition with him holding the flag. He was a heck of a nice guy....and the history he witnessed and participated in was amazing.

MichaelB

[MAP]

Michael,

Another great find. This is nicely different then the typical ones I've seen before.

Michael

[SteveR]

It would be worth bidding on.

[MichaelB]

Hi Michael-
I have only owned a couple of these but they can be real treasure troves of history.

Hey Steve-
Thanks for your earlier reply. Yeah, I thought it was worth bidding on. If I can find the Nazi flag, I will try and post it on the appropriate thread here as well....

MichaelB

[MAP]

Agree. These are so personal. Unlocking and preserving the stories behind these items is the fun and important part.

And your skill and dedication of finding all those wonderful items you have is amazing.