WWII Japanese National Flag with Identified U.S. Marine’s Guadalcanal “Coffin Corner” Capture Tag

The cotton flag is approximately 31 inches by 42 inches, having two reinforced corners with cord ties. The flag shows spots, stained, a few small holes, and fraying on the fly edge, with a small piece of the corner of the flag missing on the fly edge. Tied to a corner of the flag is an old tag on which is typed: “Jap flag found amongst the enemy dead the Morning of December 30, 1942, after the battle of ‘Coffin Corner’ by Cpl George Kinney Jr., 3rd Plt. G Co. 2nd Bn, 5th Marines.” “Coffin Corner” was the American nickname for an area southwest of of Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal. Located nearby was Crash Strip (The Grassy Strip) close to Henderson Field. During October of 1942 this location was part of the U.S. perimeter line that was guarded by U.S. Marine Corps General Puller and known as “Puller’s Line”. After the battle the location was nicknamed “Coffin Corner” by U.S. Marines because of the number of dead Japanese bodies stacked in the corner of the defensive line where they had been killed.