surrender ceremony

On September 2, 1945, General Douglas MacArthur accepted Japan’s surrender in a carefully choreographed ceremony aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Many people think that MacArthur landed in Japan after the ceremony and then began the Occupation. In fact, MacArthur had already been living in Japan for several days prior to the surrender. What was he doing during that time? How did it influence his thoughts on the surrender and Japan’s future?

MacArthur Memorial historians Jim Zobel and Amanda Williams discussed these questions and more on the 77th anniversary of the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri.

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Twitter: @MacArthur1880; @AEWilliamsClark
Facebook: @MacArthurMemorial


www.macarthurmemorial.org

On September 2, 1945, representatives of Japan signed the Instrument of Surrender in a ceremony aboard the USS Missouri. General Douglas MacArthur presided over this carefully orchestrated ceremony as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers.

Many of the Allied nations had expressed dissatisfaction with the secrecy of the evening surrender of Nazi Germany in May of 1945, so there was enormous pressure on MacArthur and his staff to ensure that the official end of World War II was impressive, flawless, and well covered by the media. The resulting 23 minute ceremony was painstakingly planned start to finish.

This special podcast in honor of the 70th Anniversary of the surrender will take you behind the scenes of this extraordinary event to explore the participants, the planning, and the various mistakes that threatened to derail the event.

Follow us on:

Twitter: @MacArthur1880; @AEWilliamsClark
Facebook: @MacArthurMemorial


www.macarthurmemorial.org