World War II, fought from 1939 to 1945, was the deadliest
war in history and involved more than 30 countries around the globe. More than
50 million people lost their lives during the war.
The USS Missouri Memorial Association will commemorate the
70th anniversary of the end of World War II with a ceremony today at the
Battleship Missouri Memorial, themed “The Day that Launched a Better Future.”
Here are five things you may not know about Sept. 2, 1945:
1. The Instrument of
Surrender was signed in Tokyo Bay, Japan.
The Instrument of Surrender was actually signed off the
coast of Tokyo, Japan. On the morning of Sept. 2, 1945, Japanese
representatives signed the surrender document during a ceremony on the deck of
the battleship USS Missouri. This day marked the end of World War II.
2. The document was
signed one month after atomic bombs were dropped on Japan.
On Aug. 6, 1945, a U.S. Boeing B-29 aircraft dropped the
atomic bomb known as Little Boy on Hiroshima. Three days later, another bomb
was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. This was the first time atomic bombs were
used in military operations.
3. Army Gen. Douglas
MacArthur signed the Instrument of Surrender for the United Nations, and Fleet
Adm. Chester Nimitz signed for the United States.
The rank of five-star, or OF-10, was first established in
1944 and is held during wartime. Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Fleet Adm. Chester
Nimitz were two of the nine five-star officers in U.S. military history.
4. Commodore Matthew
C. Perry’s original flag was present during the signing.
On the USS Missouri that day was the original American flag
flown in 1853 on the USS Powhatan by Commodore Matthew C. Perry (see in the
background of the photo below). Perry flew the flag on the first of his two
expeditions to Japan. Perry’s expeditions had resulted in the Convention of
Kanagawa, which forced the Japanese to open the country to American trade.
5. World War II did
not officially end in 1945.
Although Sept. 2, 1945, is known as the end of World War II,
the state of war formally ended when the treaty of San Francisco came into
force on April 20, 1952. It was a peace treaty with Japan.
70th Commemoration Ceremony of the Formal Surrender of Japan
and end of WWII