Associated Press - November 14, 2009 10:04 PM ET

ELKADER, Iowa (AP) - An Elkader man has returned a flag that he bought from a Japanese woman for a carton of cigarettes in 1946.

Robert Buckner was a marine and part of an occupying force on 1 of Japan's southernmost islands when he spotted the flag near a hut in a small peasant village. He says he realizes now that the woman sold him the flag because she was intimidated by American soldiers.

Years later, while Buckner was superintendent of the Central Community School District in Elkader, he showed his flag to a group of Japanese visitors. They told him the writing on it appeared to be a family history.

Last year, he sent the flag to the mayor of the city near the village, asking him to help find the family.

The mayor had little problem finding the owners, and Buckner soon received a thank-you letter from the granddaughter of the woman from whom he'd bought the flag.

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