Japanese to Sign Surrender Aboard USS Missouri Mightiest Ship in the United States Fleet, this being a press release from the U.S. Navy Department, dated August 28, 1945. 11x8.5", 2 leavers, stapled. Provenance: Miss Estelle and Miss Helene Philibert (Alexandria, Virginia), who evidently worked for the Navy Department 1940's-1960's, and who were in particular biographers of Samuel Eliot Morrison and John Paul Jones). Very good condition. Although I can find numerous copies in WorldCat/OCLC, I haven't been able (over time) to find a copy of this release for sale. Very good condition. $450
This press release comes at the very end of World war II--the end in Europe, (VE Day) was May 8, 1945, while the Armistice with Japan--the governing powers finally seeing the clear end after two atomic bombs six days later, on August 14 , while the formal signing of the declaration and instrument of surrender occurred on September 2. This release was issued from the Missouri five days earlier. The Missouri was just 14 months old at this point, and had in that time already seen action at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. It was the newest of the Iowa-class ships, and was certainly enormous (887') and powerful, and a fitting stage for the signing ceremony. After years of war, the proceedings took all of 23 minutes.
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