When asked how he attained such a good shooting position at the surrender, Mydans answered that 'being in combat, knowing the generals, covering the war over a long time helped a lot.' The first outfit to head out of Okinawa was the 11th Airborne, commanded by Gen. Representatives of the Allied Powers stand behind General MacArthur.

Yoshijiro Umezu, Chief of the Army General Staff, signing the Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters. Missouri might have presented a tempting target for a final suicide attack. Seeing a deckful of high Allied officers on the U.S.S. planes had been ready with bombs to halt any last-minute treacherous act on the part of the Japanese.

At the ceremonies, General MacArthur stated that the Japanese and their conquerors did not meet 'in a spirit of mistrust, malice or hatred but rather, it is for us, both victors and vanquished, to rise to that higher dignity which alone benefits the sacred purposes we are about to serve.'ĭespite these words, none of the Japanese delegates were saluted by any of the high-ranking officers. Missouri and before representatives of nine Allied nations, the Japanese signed their surrender. Early Sunday morning on September 2, 1945, aboard the new 45,000-ton battleship U.S.S.

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