| VJ - Day in Berlin (yank Magazine, 1945) "The city that had seen its own brand of fascism and international banditry tumble only a few months before had little energy left for reaction to the fall of Japan. The American Forces network broadcast the first authentic VJ news at 0210, and most of Berlin's polyglot occupation population, as well as most native Berliners, were asleep." A Failure to Spread the Word (Coronet Magazine, 1951)Here is a classic story about the failures in global communication during the pre-Twitter era. This three page article explains how there was a fifteen hour lag between the Japanese surrender and the time in which Tokyo heard that the offer was accepted and that the World War had indeed ended.
"In the midst of a routine radio-teletype conference between GHQ officers in Manila and the War Department in Washington, the teletype suddenly began printing:
'Stand by for important message **** from Marshall to MacArthur ****you are hereby notified of Japanese capitulation ****'"
"Then began what was to grow into a world-wide effort to re-establish direct radio contact between America and Japan, severed since the attack on Pearl Harbor..." It all centered on one bullet-pocked, bomb-damaged Radio Operations Room in Manila.
VJ-Day and the End of the War (Yank, 1945)If you've been looking for a manifesto that would serve as a document of intention for the entire mass of Americans who make up "the Greatest Generation", you might have found it.
While the other articles on VJ-Day on this site illustrate well the pure joy and delight that was experienced by so many that day, this editorial cautions the G.I. readers to remember all that they have learned from the war while laying the groundwork for the policy that would check Soviet expansion all over the globe: "Let's remember that, among other things this war taught us how costly war can be. And let's, as civilians, pay enough attention not only to our own government but to the affairs of the rest of the world so that another war may be averted... Unless we pay attention today, we may be scattered all over its face, fighting again, tomorrow."sumo men. These sumo wrestlers weigh about 300 pounds and are very agile..."
Click here to read an article about American public opinion during the early Cold War years  |
VJ-Day in Boston (Yank Magazine, 1945)"Boston's peace celebration exploded suddenly after the official news of Japanese surrender poured out of the countless radios. All morning and afternoon while many other cities were already wildly celebrating, the Hub, with true New England caution, waited soberly for confirmation." "But the staid attitude was swept away...The most general impulse seemed to be to shout, sing and hug passers-by. For men in uniform the celebration seemed to be more of a kissing fest than anything else..." | 
