September 2nd, 1945 Japan made it’s formal surrender to the Allied powers aboard the USS Missouri battleship in Tokyo Harbor officially ending World War 2. Though there were other days involved with the surrender, the day Japan offered to surrender, the day the press learned the Japanese were surrendering and this official date VJ Day was declared by President Harry Truman on September 2nd. While it was not the end of suffering from those elements fighting World War 2 it was the beginning of the healing. Though they are only rumors, there have been reports of Japanese forces on remote islands not learning of the surrender even into the 1970’s.
Tag: USS Missouri
August 14th VJ Day
Today marks the end of World War 2, 1945. Though the world learned of the surrender on August 15th and the surrender papers were signed on September 2, 1945… the Emperor of Japan called the U.S. and surrendered on the 14th of August.
This came after the controversial bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs. The fact here is, the Japanese people would never have surrendered, they would have fought to the death for their Emperor, it took convincing the Emperor that a continued fight would be futile. Hirihito realized that while his people could fight, they could not beat the atomic bomb.
The surrender was signed on September 2nd aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, a ship named for Truman’s home state. It is estimated that a million American lives, and untold numbers of Japanese were saved by the utter destruction of two Japanese cities as a warning of what was to come. Loses millions or loses thousands, it seems to me the right choice was made.
World War 2 was the costliest in world history. Thousands upon thousands of soilders were killed, millions of civilians were killed. Did we learn anything from it? Only time will tell. It seems war is unavoidable, how we handle war is a little easier.
Those who fight for freedom always pay a high price. At times it seems like the losers of war end up being the biggest winners. Germany was rebuilt and has become an economic powerhouse as has Japan. So on this VJ day (Victory over Japan) we need to think of where the world was, and is, and just how we move forward from here.
How to celebrate – Thank any veteran you see no matter what the war was they fought in. Consider what the world might be like if the atomic bombs had not been dropped. Never forget what has happened to get us where we are today.
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