On this day

  It was on this day in 1945 that the Japanese delegation landed on the island of Le Shima. This was just ten days after American forces had dropped the last nuclear bomb on the city of Nagasaki. That delegation was there to begin the process of surrender. It lies in the prefecture of Okinawa. The American journalist Ernie Pyle was killed on that island during the invasion by the 77th infantry division as part of the battle of Okinawa. A monument to him still stands there. The island was secured by American forces on April 21. The importance lies in it had an airfield. It is from that airfield my little story begins.

 My father was drafted in the Army Air force on the 12th of April in 1943. Following basic training he went to school to become a flight engineer for B-24 bombers. He was assigned to the 65th heavy bombardment group. His duties included monitoring the engines and systems on the aircraft while in flight and manning the upper gun turret when under attack. He ended up on the island of Le Shima in July of 1945. His bombing group attacking Japanese held territories. One of those places was Matsuyama. Between March and August of 1945 Matsuyama, which had an airfield being used by the Japanese to deploy their own bombers, Type 96 G3m, would be bombed 16 times. It was on the 12th of  August 1945 that my father would fly his last combat mission. Leaving Le Shima he flew a successful mission over Matsuyama, the last time that place would be bombed. My father had survived the war! This when the mortality rate of bomb crews was a staggering 71%, either killed in action or missing. I can only imagine the sense of relief those crews must have experienced.

 Just five days after that history was being made before his very eyes. He was there, watching as the American delegation, landed on the island of Le Shima, followed closely by the landing of the Japanese delegation in two Japanese "Betty" bombers. That delegation would board a C-54 Skymaster for the flight to Manila. In Manila General Douglas McArthur and his staff awaited their arrival. The purpose being the negotiation of unconditional surrender by the Japanese. The emperor of Japan had surrendered on the 15th of August, all that was left was the planning and execution of the official documents. Even wars aren't over until the paperwork is complete. 

 How it must have felt to be there, standing on that airfield, seeing your enemy just feet away, seeing those bombers land and those enemies get out. How it must have felt knowing, I have survived, the war is over. My father was twenty years old at that time. The formal and official signing of the unconditional surrender of Japan took place on the 2nd of September aboard the battleship Missouri. Seventeen days later my father would celebrate his 21st birthday.

 Eight years later I was born in July. I never heard my father speak of any of that. In fact, he seldom spoke of being in the war at all, just stories about the planes he loved. He did have an instructional manual all about the B-24 bombers he flew in. I read that quite a bit and as they would say today, we bonded over the engines described in that book. A twin row radial engine, 18 cylinders. Dad was amused that I knew the timing order for that engine and some other details, which I admit, I have now forgotten. But that was about the extent of the conversations regarding the war. After his death in 1990 I came into possession of some of his memories.  I call them his memories because he was the last to know the whole story behind those items. Those things are some pictures and a few articles that he had at that time. They have been tucked away for years. Including today, it has been 80 years and four days since he stood on that airfield on Le Shima, witness to history. 

 I feel some sense of responsibility in maintaining those memories. Those items are much more than a few pictures and some objects. I feel like the least I can do is leave an explanation of exactly what they are, to the best of my ability. Eighty years have passed since that day. The United States has only existed for 249 years, so that means about 1/3 of our history has passed since then. Eight years really isn't all that long ago in that context. Have we really forgotten? It would seem so to me. I hope these mementos and memories will serve as a reminder not only to myself but the generations succeeding me. I'm a great grandfather now, something my own father never got to experience. 

 What follows are a series of photographs. I hope you find them interesting. I can't say whether my father actually took any of these pictures but I can say with 100% certainty, he was there. I have the documents to prove that. 

That's a Japanese "Betty" bomber arriving on the island. There were instructed to be painted in a specific fashion and accompanied by U.S. fighter planes. P-38 lightening's. 

The delegation preparing to board the plane to Manila. 

Carried by my father on his missions over enemy territory. Made by his grandmother.

Matsuyama, the place of his final bombing mission. 

This is called a blood chit. It is a promise of reward for helping a downed airman evade capture. Imagine putting that in your pocket before going to work every day!

Japanese Type 96 bombers. 

                                                                                      

Dad, 21 years old home from the war.