Japanese signed flag 97th division

[tony75]

Hello
what are your thoughts on this flag
this unit was in Europe
I take it a few were split up and sent to the pacific?
I found something on the internet that said a small group was with Merrills Marauders

Although the 97th was one of the best trained divisions in the Army, it had to deal with the problem of having substantial numbers of its soldiers transferred to other units. For example, in 1944 approximately 5,000 soldiers were "stripped" from the Division while is was undergoing training a Fort Leonard Wood. Some of these men were sent as far away as the China-Burma-India Theater where they were assigned to Merrill's Marauders, an American unit that fought remarkably well against the Japanese in the jungles of Burma. However, most of the soldiers transferred from the Division went to Europe. The "stripping" process had a negative effect on strength levels, morale and military effectiveness


thank you for your time and help
Tony

[Tank Destroyer]

Tony, the flag looks right to me. It has storage issues but you can tell by the damage it was stored folded for a long time. Have you had a chance to check on the names? Marty

[tony75]

Hi Marty
no luck at all with the names
I use fold3 and cant find anything on that site
thanks
Tony

[tomp]

No rest for this division. Here is what is pulled from wiki: Arriving at Cebu and then occupation duty in Japan --

The division left Le Havre on 16 June 1945 aboard the SS Brazil, arriving at Camp Shanks on 24 June.[19] After a 30-day leave, the division reassembled at Fort Bragg, crossed the US by troop train and on 1 September embarked aboard the USS Grundy for redeployment to the Pacific, arriving at Cebu, Philippine Islands, 16 September, and then sailing to Japan for occupation duty. Arriving at Yokohama on 25 September 1945, the division relieved the 43rd Infantry Division[20] and established its headquarters at Mitsugahara Airfield in Kumagaya.[1][21] Much of the division was billeted in Ueda, Nagano during its stay in Japan.


Nice occupation era flag.

Tom

[harryamb2]

nothing there about Merrills marauders.