Today is a great day in American and world history. It is the 75th anniversary of the unconditional surrender of Japan, which ended World War II. In the United States, the surrender happened on August 14, but with the time change the surrender in Japan was on August 15. So, either date is correct.
The surrender came five days after the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.
A little known fact within the Japanese decision to surrender was Russia invaded northern China on August 8, which was agreed upon during the Potsdam Conference (July 17 – August 2,1945). Japan had occupied China since 1937.
The fascinating truth is that even after two atomic bombs and Russia’s invasion of China, the Japanese War Council was split fifty-fifty to continue fighting or surrender. One half of the War Council reasoned that perhaps the United States only had two atomic bombs and thus should continue fighting. The Emperor, for the first time in history, cast the deciding vote – to surrender. It was that close! World War II was at long last over.
The formal surrender signing took place in Tokyo Bay on the deck of the USS Missouri battleship (Mighty Mo) on September 2, 1945. The Japanese delegation surrendered to the Supreme Allied Commander, Douglas MacArthur.
This is personal to me, as my father and I toured the USS Missouri in Bremerton, Washington in 1997. We were alone on the ship and stood solemnly on the surrender deck. Dad had been a young sailor in the Battle of the Pacific and served as a Radarman 1st Class on the supply ship, USS Arneb*. The ship was one of the first supply ships to reach Hiroshima after the bomb. They carried rice for the Japanese survivors. My father never talked about the unimaginable horrors he witnessed in Hiroshima.
* USS Arneb – Arneb is the brightest star in the constellation, Lepus.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day