It is thanks to Romaine Flegel’s daughter Barb Flegel, that we have on loan the items displayed as part of our spring WWII exhibit, along with a bit of their background story. However, Romaine found it difficult to talk of his experiences in combat, so the details are sketchy — yet their very sketchiness adds to their appeal as we can only wonder what details would tell the whole story of his service.
We do know that Romaine served in the Pacific Theater, fighting the Japanese in Okinawa and China. It makes sense, then, that, the “Rising Sun” flag, and sword we will have on display, are all Japanese.
During combat, Romaine had a specific job. The Japanese had developed the strategy of sending soldiers into the flooded rice paddies. During the day, they would remain underwater, breathing through hollow tubes. When the opportunity seemed right, the Japanese would rise from their hiding places and attack the American soldiers.
Romaine had been trained to detect these threats. He used a dog to find the hidden Japanese soldiers. It was a dangerous assignment. In his first week, Romaine lost three dogs. Miraculously, he himself survived, but with great reluctance to talk about his experiences when he returned home.