V-J Day

Today is the Anniversary of the surrender of the Japanese Empire in 1945 and the conclusion of WW2.

On 12 Aug 1945 the Japanese announced their unconditional surrender.  However, it was not until 2 Sep that the surrender document was signed onboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, and President Truman officially declared that day to be "V-J Day".  Operation DOWNFALL, the planned invasion of the home islands scheduled to commence in November 45, was cancelled and hundreds of thousands of projected casualties on both sides were avoided.

General Douglass MacArthur (shown above) was the supreme Allied Commander for the occasion, and stated:

"It is my earnest hope—indeed the hope of all mankind—that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past, a world founded upon faith and understanding, a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish for freedom, tolerance, and justice."

One may visit the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbour where she is preserved as a museum ship and berthed astern of the USS Arizona memorial - between them they mark the beginning and the end of the involvement of the USA in WW2 (USS Arizona was sunk in the Pearl Harbour attack of 7 Dec 41).

You can visit the exact point pictured above where this plaque commemorates that event in 1945 and copies of the surrender document are displayed.  I had the privilege in 2009 and it was most memorable.