On September 2, 1945, six years and a day after the beginning of World War 2, the formal ceremony of Japan’s surrender took place aboard the USS Missouri. The day is commemorated as V-J Day, or Victory over Japan Day.
Attendants included General Douglas McArthur, US Commander of the Southwest Pacific Area and Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and General Yoshijiro Umezu, and Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, as the United States Representative, along with Allies representatives of the United Kingdom, Soviet Union, China, Australia, Canada, France, The Netherlands, and New Zealand.
Along with raising the four star admiral flag, the 1853 American flag (31 stars, 13 stripes) that Commodore Matthew Perry had flown during his expedition to Japan, which resulted in the first treaty between the US and Japan, was put on display as part of the Surrender Ceremony.
With the surrendering of Japan after the end of war in Europe (May 8, 1946 with the surrender of Germany), World War 2 had finally come to a close. Victory celebrations occurred throughout the world and the US, including Klamath Falls, OR.
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