It’s Sunday morning, September 2, 1945, and nearly 300 Allied warships and thousands of military troops are gathered in Tokyo Bay. Allied leaders are assembled on the deck of the battleship USS Missouri for a brief ceremony. The men aboard the Missouri are about to witness Japan’s formal surrender of the war.
At sunrise, the seas in Tokyo Bay were nearly calm, with billowing pearl-gray clouds and a gentle breeze of warm air tousling many national flags. The 58,000-ton battleship USS Missouri was anchored in the bay, its starboard gray teak deck polished and shining. 280 Allied warships from around the world lay at anchor surrounding the "Mighty MO."
The flagship of the 3rd fleet was christened for service by President Harry Truman's daughter, Margaret, in January 1944. "Give 'em Hell, Harry," hailed from "The Show Me State." Truman personally selected the vessel for this special occasion as the site for the formal surrender of the Empire of Japan, ending WWII.
The battleship USS West Virginia was the only ship damaged at Pearl Harbor that was present in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered. The Japanese sank the battlewagon in Pearl with six torpedoes and two bombs. The ship was salvaged and repaired, playing a pivotal role in many Pacific battles.
On board the Missouri, a standard folding table from the ship's mess hall was placed in the center of the deck. The table was covered with a green baize tablecloth that was stained with coffee, featuring yellow scroll trim hastily obtained from the ship's laundry wardroom. Fortunately, the stains were hidden by the size of the Instrument of Surrender folders. The Allied document was presented in a ceremonial gilded leather binder with aged parchment paper, while the Japanese document was bound in rough, hard, dull canvas.
"23 minutes on "Mighty-Mo's" veranda teakwood deck."
Allied Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur ordered that the day's uniform be khakis, daily service clothes, open shirts, no ties and minimal rank insignia. He said, "We fought them in our khakis, and we will accept their surrender in our khaki uniforms." At 8:56 a.m., a Navy band played "The Star-Spangled Banner" as clouds covered the sun. At the same time, the solemn, glum and formally dressed 11 Japanese emissaries were allowed to board the ship. At the top of the gangway, eight U.S. seamen, all over six feet tall and wearing starched white uniforms, lined the entrance. The Japanese envoys passed between the lines of tall sailors specifically chosen to demonstrate U.S. superiority and to intimidate the delegation. Not one principal allied military officer saluted the Japanese.
William R. Matthews, owner, editor and publisher of the Arizona Daily Star, was one of the few correspondents aboard the battleship who witnessed and documented the Japanese surrender. He wrote in the Star, "V-J Day had come at last, and I was one of the seven lucky publishers who had a ringside seat at the ceremony."
MacArthur avoided any direct or implied humiliation of the Japanese participants in his remarks. He did not speak of surrender or defeat but focused on restoring peace characterized by freedom, tolerance and justice. MacArthur declared, "Let us pray that peace now be restored and that God will preserve it always." Facing the Japanese delegation, he ceremonially announced: "These proceedings are closed." The solemn ceremony lasted only 23 minutes on the "Mighty-MOs" veranda teakwood deck.
As the Japanese Imperial government representatives were escorted off the ship, and as if on divine cue, the sun broke through the leaden clouds. With warming sunlight, 450 Navy carrier planes from the 3rd fleet, followed by 462 Army Air Force B-29 bombers, flew low in formation over the bay, sounding a deafening final benediction. There were more U.S. aircraft in the sky over Tokyo than the total Japanese planes that attacked Pearl Harbor four years and nine months earlier.
Award-winning writer Jerry Wilkerson lives in SaddleBrooke. He was a former press secretary for two U.S. Congressmen, a correspondent for CBS NewsRadio 780 Chicago, and the Chicago Daily News. He has served as a police commissioner and is a Navy veteran. Email: franchise@att.net.
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