65 years ago this morning Japan did this in front of Douglas MacArthur (video)
Today is the 65th anniversary of Japan's surrender, officially ending World War II.
Since so many alive today were not back then, return with us now to those moving 20 minutes on the deck of the battleship Missouri moored in Tokyo Bay on that overcast day of renewed peace six years and one day after the war began.
And the simple and thus enduring words of Gen. Douglas MacArthur about that morning and that era's titanic global struggle:
"These proceedings are closed."
There's also a fascinating photo gallery on the surrender over here.
-- Andrew Malcolm
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Andrew:
Thank you for posting this. My dad fought in the Pacific in World War II (Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Guam); he was all of 21 years old when the war ended. ..bruce..
Posted by: bfwebster | September 02, 2010 at 08:51 AM
American Ceasar. Read it. Learn about a great American, Douglas Macarthur.
Posted by: flyyenta | September 02, 2010 at 07:35 PM
Freedom is not free. Thank a soldier.
Posted by: smokehouse | September 02, 2010 at 08:44 PM
Awesome video and pics. Gave me chills.
It reminds me that America was great once.
(AM responds: Glad you enjoyed it. That was our goal! Thanks for checking in here. Hope to see back often.)
Posted by: Boris92262 | September 02, 2010 at 09:39 PM
Thank you so much for this. Having recently watched "The Pacific", I couldn't help thinking about all those who made it happen but didn't live to witness the surrender.
Posted by: expatriot1 | September 04, 2010 at 10:46 PM