Sewer King wrote:What USMC unit was you grandfather in? The Bonins were occupied by elements of 3rd Marines in December 1945, who oversaw the demilitarization of the islands and repatriation of
Bonin Islands garrisons at the end of the war. Of course there is no certainty from these alone that he got the dog tag while actually part of the occupation force, even if you can place him exactly in the Bonins. But it would be helpful.
Thank you to the members who have commented and and assisted in the translation of my post - it is greatly appreciated. To provide some additional context on where this dog tag could have possibly been found, my grandfather was in the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Division Fleet Marine Force. From what I can tell from researching the unit history and talking to men he served with, they were in Iwo Jima, Roi-Namur/Kawajalein and Saipan (where he was injured and did not participate in Tinian). I do not know for certain, but I don't believe he was ever in Sumatra. I have not researched the history enough to know if he was on other parts of the Bonin Islands, but that location doesn't sound familiar. My grandfather passed away 23 years ago, so unfortunately, I'm unable to ask him where he found this dog tag - even if he were alive, I don't know if he would talk about it - growing up, he never mentioned anything about the war to me, his daughters or his wife. I think it was a part of his life that he didn't want to remember or relive.
I appreciate the help everyone has offered - identifying this dog tag is part of a larger project/journey that I am on. In addition to a dog tag, I have a number of other personal items from a couple of Japanese soldiers from the war. I've been meeting with a Japanese teacher at a local school near the university where I work, and we've been trying to translate all of the information that I have, including a letter, photos, prayer flags, traditional fan, and some business cards. I have also been in contact with the Japanese Ministry of Health - War Victims' Relief, in the hopes of locating any living family members related to these soldiers - I would be honored to return everything I have to the rightful owners.
I have created a web site to chronicle my journey and if anyone is interested in visiting the site and weighing in on any of the other translations, it would mean a lot to me. While the help I've received from the Japanese teacher has been amazing, she has had some trouble with the translations and knowing exactly what the characters represent. The URL is
http://awakeningthepast-wwii.blogspot.com. All of the items from my collection have been scanned and posted to this site - along with the progress I've made so far.
Again, thank you to everyone who replied - this means a lot to me and I only hope that I'm able to gain a better understanding of the importance of the items I have and to ultimately find the family members so that I can return everything. I will readily admit that I need to conduct more research and study the history of the battles more - that is my weakness at the moment - that is just another part of this journey and something I am hopeful that I can work on.
Kyle Parker