Sailors celebrate the end of the war with Japan at Naval Station Mayport in this photograph by then Navy photographer Loyd Sandgren.
Germany had surrendered to the Allies May 7, 1945 ending the war in Europe. In an effort to bring the continuing war with Japan to a close on August 6, 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. On August 8, 1945 the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded the Japanese occupied State of Manchuria (now Northeast China and Inner Mongolia). That same day the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki. On August 15, 1945 Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender of Japan to the Allies over the radio to his countrymen. On September 2, 1945 Japanese representatives signed the formal surrender documents on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay officially ending World War II.
Tags: celebration, historic photograph, men, Naval Station Mayport, navy, sailors, uniforms, V-J Day, Victory over Japan, vintage photography, World War II
Oh, how I remember VJ Day. I was 12. My mother and I took a bus downtown from Murray Hill to celebrate. The streets were crowded with noisy and happy sailors, Marines and citizens. The buses stopped running and my Mom and I were left stranded. My mom stopped a taxi to ask for a ride. He drove us home free!