Lifelines takes a step back in time this week with two questions linked to World War II.
First, from reader TT in the U.S. comes a request to help identify the owner of a Japanese sword. He inherited it from his late grandfather, along with some photos of the original owner's family in a canister found with the sword.
He writes: "My grandfather was a Staff Sergeant in Luzon with the #305 HDQ 37th Infantry Division. The story he told about the sword was that during [Gen. Douglas] MacArthur's return to the Philippines [in 1944, two years after being forced to flee], an exchange of fire occurred in the mountains outside of Manila, and a small group of around six Japanese were killed. The sword was taken from a fallen Japanese officer, placing him in the Philippines at that time.