Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Japan surrendera 70 years ago


Sunday morning, September 2, 1945, flags of the United States, Britian, the Soviet Union and China fluttered above the deck of the battleship USS Missouri. More than 250 Allied warships lay at anchor in Tokyo bay, awaiting the formal surrrender of Japan.  At around 9 a.m  the    Japanese foreign minister signed  the papers.  Supreme Commander MacArthur signed on behalf of the United Nations.

Among the United States ships was ours, the USS Pickens, APA 190 We had left San Francisco in late August, going first to the Philippines where we left the Black Hawk division and took on board troops who had occupied the Philippines.  These experiencd troops would now occupy Japan.

The signing of papers made Japan's surrender official but to me and others who were scheduled to invade Japan and face suicide attacks the war ended when  on  August  14 President Truman came on the radio to announce that Japan had surrendered.

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