Fourteen-year-old Phoenix Taylor is yanked from everything familiar when his stepfather is transferred to a military base in Okinawa, Japan. As Phoenix struggles with the move, he promises to take his great-grandpa's war trophy, a WWII Japanese battle flag, back to Okinawa. There he will return it to the dead soldier's family if he can find them. His Pa says it's the only way to free the ghost trapped within the flag.Although Phoenix doesn't believe in ghosts and spirits, he's haunted by violent nightmares, strange dreams, and puzzling flashbacks to another time and place. While working with a psychic, he makes contact with the trapped spirit in the flag. Phoenix is shocked to discover his past life experience, the soldier's surviving sister, and his filial relationship to the spirit in the flag.Soon after the family arrives in Okinawa, stepfather Rex orders Phoenix to donate the flag to the local governor's war museum. When he refuses, Rex gives him a two-week deadline to find the soldier's family. If he fails, he must give the flag to the governor. This ultimatum launches Phoenix on a frantic quest to find the soldier's family.
