V-J Day

V-J celebration in Oak Ridge, TN

The initial announcement of Japan's surrender in WWII came on August 14, 1945, in the U. S., but because of the time difference, it was August 15th in most of Europe. Celebrations erupted everywhere. Although it would be until September 2nd before the official document of surrender was signed aboard the battleship the USS Missouri anchored in Tokyo Bay, for all intents and purpose, the long war was finally over.

V-J celebration in Times Square, NY

The event was dubbed V-J Day and followed V-E Day when the war had ended in Europe with Germany's surrender, yet Japan continued to fight. On August 14th, however, the Japanese government first made the  announcement in a radio broadcast and sent a cable to U.S. President Truman through the Swiss diplomatic corps in Washington, D.C. Truman relayed the announcement live in a national broadcast beginning at 7:00 p.m.Washington time.

Riots broke out in San Francisco

Riotous celebrations broke out in San Francisco, injuring over 1,000 people, killing 13, and violently attacking at least 6 women. The largest crowd in the history of New York City's Time Square gathered there to celebrate. Workers in the Garment District even threw scraps of cloth out the windows to join the ticker tape, leaving a carpet about 5 inches deep.

The Jorgensen photo

Service men began kissing women close to them, and perhaps the most famous photograph of the celebrations came from one of those moments. Alfred Eisenstaedt caught Greta Zimmer Friedman and George Medonca in a victory kiss, and Navy photographer Victor Jorgensen published a similar photo in the New York Times.Finally the war had ended. 

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