On Aug. 14, 1945, it was announced that Japan had surrendered to the Allies.
The day became known as Victory over Japan Day, or V-J Day. Celebrations erupted around the globe as war-weary people danced in the streets.
Sept. 2, 1945, also is known as V-J Day because it was the date when Japan officially surrendered by signing documents aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
World War II came to an end six years after it started in 1939 when Adolf Hitler’s Germany invaded Poland.
On board the USS Missouri were Allied Supreme Commander Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and the Japanese Army Chief of Staff Yoshirjiro Umezu.
The United Press said also on board were “representatives of the 10 Allied nations bedecked in uniforms of varied colors.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. First Calvary Division was massing south of Tokyo waiting an order from MacArthur “to march into the city. Behind them were poised an estimated 1,500,000 men who will sweep into Japan immediately to enforce the terms of Japan’s unconditional surrender, signed yesterday by sullen representatives of Emperor Hirohito.”
“The naval and air might of the victors was to be seen and heard. Hundreds of carrier planes of the United States Third Fleet, led by 45 Superfortresses, passed low overhead in perfect formation.”
According to United Press reports, “An estimated 1,000,000 or more half-starved and isolated Japanese troops from Singapore to Wake Island in the Pacific were rapidly giving up to American and British forces now that Japan’s surrender is official.”
As troops assembled in Japan, “The shattered Japanese capital today was declared out of bounds to all Americans, including correspondents, but Lt. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger announced he was ready to send his Eighth Army into Tokyo at any time MacArthur gives him the word.”
“Troops assembling north of Atsugi airdrome, where they will bivouac until the signal is given to march into Tokyo.
High winds of hurricane force meanwhile, all but halted the flow of airborne troops to Asugi airdrome. Only two plans carrying 80 men of the Eleventh Airborne Division landed yesterday, bringing the total of airborne troops in Japan to some 9,000 men.
Col. James Cadwell, Eighth Army provost marshal, said Allied Forces have occupied Yokohama without a single serious incident.
‘The Japanese civilian police have been extremely cooperative,’ Caldwell said. ‘On the whole I have been gratified with the good behavior of our soldiers and Japanese cooperation.’”
Meanwhile, Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz disclosed that troops will begin to move inland from dozens of strategic seaports and coastal areas as the occupation unfolds. They will take over control of all Japanese communications and military installations as they spread across the main islands.
Nimitz was aided in plotting landing procedures for complete military control of Japan’s home islands by admirals of the United States Third, Fifth and Seventh Fleets working in conjunction with the air and ground forces under MacArthur’s over-all supervision.
Lt. Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita, the arrogant conqueror of Malaya, Singapore and the Philippines came down out of his mountain hideout today and turned in his 700-year-old Samurai sword as a token of surrender. The formal papers will be signed tomorrow.”
President Harry Truman addressed the nation, thanking the “12,000,000 fighting men and women for a job well done and promised that most of them would be returned to civilian life “as soon as the ships and planes can get you there.”
“It will take months to accomplish,” he said. “For some of you, military service must continue for a time,” because armies of occupation must remain behind to “wipe out Japanese militarism just as we are cleaning militarism out of German.”
…
The United Press reported, “The president spoke solemnly, yet exultantly, to the men and women whose united effort restored peace to the world.
‘I think I know the American soldier and sailor,’ he said. “He does not want gratitude or sympathy. He had a job to do. He did not like it. But he did it. And how he did it!
Now, he wants to come back home and star again the life he loves – a life of peace and quiet, the life of a civilian.
But he wants to know that he can come back to a good life. He wants to know that his children will not have to go back to the life of the foxhole and the bomber, the battleship and the submarine.”
Then Truman gave this pledge:
“The United Nations are determined that never again shall either of those countries (Germany or Japan) be able to attack its peaceful neighbors.
I speak in behalf of all y countrymen when I pledge that we shall do everything in our power to make these wishes come true.’
At the outset Mr. Truman said that ’this is a time for general rejoicing and a time for solemn contemplation. With the destructive force of war removed from the world, we can now turn to the grave task of preserving the peace, which you gallant men and women have won.
It is a task which requires our most urgent attention. It is one in which we must collaborate with our Allies and other nations of the world.
They are as determined as we are that war must be abolished from the earth if the earth as we know it, is to remain. Civilization cannot survive another total war. I think that is what is in the hearts of your countrymen tonight.’”
READ MORE
‘Failing to zigzag’: The 75th anniversary of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in World War II.
‘A flaming duel of big guns’: the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa in World War II.
The Battle of Iwo Jima was ‘costly and savage’ during World War II.
‘Big Ben bombed, battered, bruised and bent:’ The 75th anniversary of the bombing of the USS Franklin.
Some of the “most savage fighting of World War II” took place at Anzio.
‘The Yanks are coming’: Soldiers hit the Normandy beaches on D-Day in 1944.
Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
___
(c)2020 The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.)
Visit The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.) at www.pennlive.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
