Eighty years ago today on August 14, 1945, the front page of the Lorain Journal announced that the Japanese had accepted the Allied unconditional surrender terms – but that the official surrender note had not arrived yet.
Nevertheless, as the front page of the paper noted, the celebration of the end of the way was underway locally, with the blowing of horns and shotgun blasts.
So was it officially Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day)?
According to the defense.gov website, "V-J Day, or Victory over Japan Day, marks the end of World War II, one of the deadliest and most destructive wars in history. When President Harry S. Truman announced on Aug. 14, 1945, that Japan had surrendered unconditionally, war-weary citizens around the world erupted in celebration."
However, the Wiki page for V-J Day notes, "Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on which the initial announcement of Japan's surrender was made – 15 August 1945, in Japan, and because of time zone differences, 14 August 1945 (when it was announced in the United States and the rest of the Americas and Eastern Pacific Islands) – as well as to 2 September 1945, when the surrender document was signed, officially ending World War II."
Anyway, it is heartwarming reading about the joy and happiness being expressed by Lorain residents.
Here are pages 2, 3 and 4 of the same edition. Besides the end-of-the-war stories, there's several other items of interest, including the 10th anniversary of Social Security, as well as the story of a Lorain boy who finds a message in a bottle.
Not everyone was celebrating. My mum's brother, John Jacob Esau was killed in a truck accident on the Stillwell Highway on August 1, 1945. He was buried in Kunming China. The telegram informing his mother of his death arrived on August 14. The letter from the chaplain, Major Lampson arrived on the 17th. It took 2-and-a-half years from Gramma to get the body returned. She refused to take the flag at his military funeral and sent his medals "back to that God-d----ded Harry Truman."
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, Dad was returning from Pennsyltucky to Texas at the end of a 30-day leave. His next post was the Japan home island. He was in transport, on a troop train, "somewhere in Arkansas" when the news of surrender hit. He said the soldiers "tore that train completely apart" and "there was no place to sit because they ripped the seat from the floor and threw them out the windows."
As an aside... As part of his training for the invasion, Dad learned 3 Japanese phrases and was able to repeat for the rest of his life. They translated as: "I am an American." - "I have chocolate." - and "Throw down your weapon or I will kill you."