I am posting a day early for this I will probably be fairly busy during the day tomorrow how ever.  Tuesday September second marked the End Of world war 2 in Asia when the armed forces of the Empire of Japan surrendered to the allied forcefs.  The surrender came almost four months after the surrender of the Axis forces in Europe and brought and end to World War II  Tomorrow it will have been 74 years 11 months and 30 days.

 

Thanks for the reminder

Momentous day.

Not sure if this is irony, but today was the beginning of WWII when hitler and his forces invaded Poland in 1939. Andrew thank you for the post.

I always think of that signing ceremony as "the day that saved my life".  My dad was scheduled to be "first ashore" in the invasion of Japan.  In our family, the use of the Fat Man and Little Boy bombs were regarded differently than most.

There have been some shows on the American Hero Channel (formerly The Military Channel) showing the grim reality of the Pacific campaign with Japan. My F-I-L served in Italy and then moved to the Pacific theatre. He never talked much about his service, and after seeing some of those shows I can see why. RIP Frank, and all those of The Greatest Generation!

Pete, I believe they made the correct decision. Always have.

My uncle served in the navy in the Pacific during WWII.   He never talked about it - ever.

4 hours ago, Artie said:

Pete, I believe they made the correct decision. Always have.

I suspect those who want to revise History rarely have either made it or experienced it.  I bet only a small minority of our population truly "remember Pearl Harbor".  Shucks, probably less than half even know what "9/11" was.  Maybe that's a good thing:  move one, don't stare at the wake of the boat.

5 hours ago, p_toad said:

My uncle served in the navy in the Pacific during WWII.   He never talked about it - ever.

People will occasionally ask me about what combat is like.  I generally reply, "do you sleep well at night?"  Usually they say yes.  My next reply, "may that always be so."  Some things they should never know about.  Then of course if you did tell them how would they see you afterward?  I survived by using any means available to take out the enemy.  

 

 

I have walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, past the twin pillars of fire at the Gates of Hell, and descended into the depths of that Abyss. There we have done battle with the Furies, some of those comrades have fallen.

Words cannot express what it is like to hold a fallen comrade in your arms, hear him call for his Mother, pray with him that God will take away the pain, and listen as he begs you to take him home because he is cold.

Nor can mere words do justice to the emotions you experience as you watch the last breath of life leave the body, see the eyes go cold and gray, then feel the gentle whisper of the wind as the spirit departs the body.

I have avenged my fallen comrades. The enemy has known true fear, and experienced the vicious taste of my wrath. They have learned I will show no mercy. But it did not bring them back.

My experience has taught me two lessons; the first is that life is short and should be enjoyed; the second is that Freedom is not free. It is paid for with blood and the sacrifice of those who stand on the line and say nothing crosses me on my watch. If you want past me you must go through me and I will not go quietly into the night.

 

 

@AndrewB, thanks for keeping the Veterans Forum alive and informed! Appreciate it much.

12 hours ago, FlGatorwood said:

 Did you notice that it had a wooden deck?  Only sailors would notice such things.  

  LOL

That deck is teak, and I've often wondered how many acres of trees were cut down just for Big Mo and her sister ships. Also, did they use Thompson's Water Seal on it?

Those teak decks were a full 2" thick. Some WWII ships' teak decks were painted blue/gray for camouflage purposes. Most often they received a Holystone treatment and, some were then lacquered. I'd bet the Big Mo's decks were polished to a high shine for the surrender ceremonies.

I imagine that's true, how would you like to be the swabs ordered to make it shine. Uggh, I'll bet that was some work.

Here's a pic of the first step (holystoning) in the deck cleaning process. These guys are using sticks. Often, it was done on one's knees. Hence the name holy stone.

Like I said: Ugggh! The way they're bent over it might almost be easier to be on the hands and knees.