Sunday, August 17, 2014

Japan surrenders 69 years ago today

I was in San Francisco the evening we received the news trhat Japan, shocked by  us wiping out two cities with atom bombs, had agreed to surrender terms, ending the war in the Pacific.

The air was rife with rumors that surrender was likely  when   I left the ship on a rare liberty.  My first stop was at a restaurant where I was seated at a  table with a family group I did not know.  The restaurant was trying to close early as word came of the surrender.

This should have been a moment of great joy for me because my ship, the Pickens, was to leave in a few days to invade Japan.  As mobs began to go wild a girl grabbed my hat.  A sailor yelled, "she just wants you to kiss her," but I chased her down and recovered my hat.  To me this should have been a solemn occasion, a time for thanks to God, so as the celebrations became wilder I went back to the ship.

No comments:

Post a Comment