August 6, 1945 was no ordinary day. Although the Allied Forces had achieved victory in Europe, World War II still raged on in the Pacific Theater. The Japanese were, and remain to this day, an extremely proud race. Demonstrating their resolve at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, they preferred to fight to the death rather than face dishonor by surrendering. Many Japanese pilots became kamikazes: the equivalent of human bombs. The devastation they left behind made the war more costly to the Allies, and the Japanese had hoped that we would cave in by suing for peace. Even Japanese civilians were trained to counterattack their enemies with anything that could kill or main. This included hastily fashioned weapons such as sharpened bamboo stalks.
The war had begun during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration. FDR had vowed that we would achieve unconditional surrender from our enemies. When Harry S. Truman assumed the Presidency after FDR’s death, he was honor-bound to fulfill the wishes of his former Commander-in-Chief. And fulfill them, he did.
The atom bomb, or A-bomb, was classified as Top Secret. Testing at Alamogordo, New Mexico revealed that this weapon represented an incredible, unprecedented level of destruction. So secret was it that those on the “Need to Know” list were a relative handful.
With the A-bomb, the planned invasion of Japan was on the drawing board, along with the date, the time, and calculated cost of life. President Truman agonized over whether to drop the bomb on a city, rather than a military target, or follow the original invasion plan and pay the price in American casualties. In the end, he ordered that the city of Hiroshima be bombed on August 6, 1945. On that day, accompanied by two other B-29 bombers, the Enola Gay unleashed the power of the atom and initiated the Atomic Age, devastating the city of Hiroshima. After bombing another city, Nagasaki, Japan surrendered unconditionally to the Allies.
August 14, 1945 was declared VJ day. All across America and the rest of the free world, crowds gathered and cheered to commemorate the peace for which we had prayed for four long years. The famous photograph of a sailor spontaneously and joyously kissing a girl in New York City’s Times Square echoed the world’s elation. The photo was widely circulated and reproduced. Today a statue of this couple still stands in Sarasota, Florida; no doubt, other likenesses stand elsewhere in our nation.
On August 14, 2010, a reenactment of that scene will be held in Times Square to commemorate the surrender of Japan to the Allied Forces in the Pacific.
It was 65 years ago when that sailor kissed that girl. As he was planting that kiss, I was sailing on a troopship in the Pacific Ocean, heading — literally — for a baptism by fire. I was part of a massive armada sent to invade Japan. But when the Captain of our ship announced Japan’s surrender, the invasion was no longer necessary. Thus, I served my country in another capacity, by occupying Japan for a full year. From October 1945 through September 1946, my fellow soldiers and I — Americans and European Allies — ensured the stabilization of Japan subsequent to its surrender.
I was recently interviewed by a reporter from The Courier Post, for an article that the newspaper is running with respect to VJ Day. After she finished the formal interview, the reporter asked me, “As a veteran of that war, how do you feel about us no longer celebrating the days that finalized World War II — VE Day and VJ Day?”
I answered, “August 6th was not the official end of the war. That took place in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. That is another day that is not celebrated; another day that gets lost in the Labor Day weekend, like other holidays set aside to honor God and country.”
Maybe something that occurred 65 years ago has no meaning to those who weren’t there. But it still means something to me. Those who sacrificed themselves for that war did so to protect the lives and fundamental freedoms of Americans as well as all who were oppressed, tortured, and murdered by the Axis Forces.
It has been rightly said that “those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” For that reason, the study of World War II is immensely important and the reason why Americans and, for that matter, all inhabitants of this planet should both remember and commemorate events like VJ Day.
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