V-J Day

“This day is a new beginning in the history of freedom on this earth. Our global victory has come from the courage and stamina and spirit of free men and women united in the determination to fight.”

President Harry S. Truman

By August 1945, America had been at war for almost four years, Poland and England for six. Victory in Europe day was declared in May 1945, but conflict still raged with the Japanese, whom it seemed would never give up. In fact, no Japanese military unit had surrendered during World War II. Despite being victorious for the Allies, the battles on Iwo Jima and Okinawa were devastating with heavy losses.

Plans were made to invade the Japanese home islands, however, prior to execution of the operation, on August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the atomic bomb, the first of its kind, on Hiroshima. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. On August 10, Japan notified the Allies of its intent to surrender on August 14, 1945.

As soon as the news was released on August 14, celebrations began across the

globe. The United Kingdom announced its official V-J Day would be the following day, August 15, 1945. September 2nd, the date the surrender documents were signed is the official US commemoration. In Japan, August 15 is known as “memorial day for the end of the war.”

In London, people took to the streets, civilians and members of the armed forces alike. One article reported soldiers dancing in a conga line on Regent Street. In Paris, Frenchmen paraded on the Champs-Elysees singing “Don’t Fence Me In.” In Berlin American soldiers reportedly shouted, “It’s over in the Pacific.” The Chinese set off fireworks, and in Manila residents were said to sing “God Bless America.” In Washington, DC, a crowd yelling, “We want Harry,” tried to break into the White House. They were unsuccessful.

New York’s Times Square filled with the largest crowd it had ever seen, with kissing, dancing, and singing. One of the most famous photographs, a soldier kissing a woman who appears to be a nurse, was taken in Times Square and published in Life Magazine. Life also reported that news of the war’s end “sparked a coast-to-coast frenzy of {servicemen} kissing…everyone in skirts that happened along.”

Tragically, some celebrations, such as the one in San Franciso, was categorized as a “three-night orgy of vandalism, looting, assault, robbery, rape, and murder.” Another article called it the “deadliest riots in the city’s history.” Additionally, Japanese soldiers murdered POWs, then committed suicide. Fortunately, these incidents were few.

V-J Day was bittersweet in light of the worldwide destruction and death. As historian Donald L. Miller, Ph.D wrote, “For those who had seen the face of battle and been in the camps and under the bombs—and had lived—there was a sense of immense relief.”

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Linda Shenton Matchett writes happily-ever-after historical Christian fiction about second chances and women who overcome life’s challenges to be better versions of themselves. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry (of Star-Spangled Banner fame) and has lived in historical places all her life. She is a volunteer docent and archivist at the Wright Museum of WWII and a former trustee for her local public library. She now lives in central New Hampshire where she explores the history of this great state and immerses herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.

A Lesson in Love

He thinks he’s too old. She thinks she’s too young. Can these teachers learn that love defies all boundaries?

Born and raised in London, Isobel Turvine knows nothing about farming, but after the students in her school evacuate during Operation Pied Piper, she’s left with little to do. Her friend talks her into joining the Women’s Land Army, and she finds herself working the land at a manor home in Yorkshire that’s been converted to a boys’ school. A teacher at heart, she is drawn to the lads, but the handsome yet stiff-necked headmaster wants her to stick to farming.

Left with an arm that barely works from the last “war to end all wars,” Gavin Emerson agrees to take on the job of headmaster when his school moves from London to Yorkshire, but he’s saddled with the quirky manor owner, bickering among his teachers, and a gaggle of Land Army girls who have turned the grounds into a farm. When the group’s blue-eyed, blonde leader nearly runs him down in a car, he admonishes her to stay in the fields, but they are thrown together at every turn. Can he trust her not to break his heart?

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Photo Credits: 

VJ Day in Times Square: By New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photographer: DeMarsico, Dick, photographer. - Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c19650, Public Domain. 

Civilians and Soldiers in London: By Ministry of Information Photo Division Photographer. From the collections of the Imperial War Museums. Public Domain. 

Soldier in Times Square: By Victor Jorgensen - US archives, Public Domain. 

Sources: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_over_Japan_Day https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/VJ-Day/ 

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/v-j-day

Legacy of VJ Day: A Modern Sailor’s Tribute to Inspirational Grandfather: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dlZKR2h0-A https://www.defense.gov/Multimedia/Experience/VJ-Day/