WWII vets mark Japan's surrender aboard battleship

[Coventina]

Source: Associated Press

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii — The famous battleship where Japanese officials signed the surrender documents that officially ended World War II played host on Wednesday to about 20 aging U.S. veterans and dozens of observers as they marked the 64th anniversary of the war's end.

The USS Missouri, which was anchored in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945, for the surrender ceremonies, has since been decommissioned and moored in Pearl Harbor.

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie told those gathered it's fitting that the battleship — now known as the Battleship Missouri Memorial — is docked just a few hundred yards from the memorial for the USS Arizona.

The Arizona sank when Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, an event that drew the U.S. into the war.

"I can think of nothing more valuable of this complex here ... to enable generations to come to reflect and understand," said Abercrombie, D-Hawaii.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jVbx3DrC24iy_vfqMeYmWhhpp6WAD9AFIJAG0

[Captain Hilts]

1. It was supposed to be on my uncle's ship, IOWA, but Truman was from Missouri. Damn. And -

US officers present were ordered to dress informally and NOT wear ties.

[Vidar]

2. My hats off to those Vets.

[UTUSN]

3. Japanese students aboard the USS Lexington

It's a WW II carrier, now a museum docked at Corpus Christi, TX.

Years ago, I walked through it. At the entry point, there are a huge bulkhead (wall) covered with (plaques?) marking each of the ship's shooting down of Japanese planes.

So finally getting up to the bridge, I sat in the Captain's chair, stood at the ship's wheel and all that little fantasy stuff. Then there was a closed hatch (door) to a room, which was the map room.

So I opened the door, and what did I see? A Japanese college student sitting in a chair with his feet crossed on the desk, and his pal taking his picture, and both of them laughing their asses off until the door opened, that is.

I just non-judgmentally took in the scene and closed the door, like an old parent catching kids in an embarrassing situation. If the iron (steel?) walls weren't so impermeable, I probably could have heard them burst into loud laughter.

[No Elephants]

4. Thank you.

[Thothmes]

5. My dad sailed onboard the USS West Virginia

The West Virginia and all of the Pearl Harbor surviving battleships were ordered to Tokyo Bay to witness the surrender

[Parche]

6. I was there 2years ago

very moving
i can almost recite the speech that Mcarthur gave onboard verbatim...:woohoo::hi: