THIS DAY – AT 12:14 P.M. ET:  September 2nd, 1945, isn't as famous as December 7th, 1941, or September 11th, 2001, but its symbolism is still great.  It was on this day in 1945, some 72 years ago, that World War II came to its official end.

The place was Tokyo Bay.  The ship was the battleship USS Missouri, supposedly chosen for the occasion because it was named for the home state of America's new president, Harry S. Truman.  The event was the signing of Japan's formal surrender.

The ceremony was routine, but the atmosphere was not.  The Japanese delegation that came aboard could not help but notice – one of the young diplomats later wrote about it in amazement– the lack of vindictiveness or mean-spiritedness on the part of the representatives of the victorious Allied nations.  Thus began a remarkable episode in American history.  General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, a man not without controversy, ran the occupation of Japan in an enlightened, thoughtful manner, helping to build Japan into a democracy, an ally of the West, and an economic power. 

Over the years Japan built a small self-defense force, and never developed nuclear weapons.  Today it is involved in a critical, soul-searching debate over whether to substantially increase that force and go nuclear, in response to the threat from nearby North Korea. 

The USS Missouri survives as a museum ship, docked at Pearl Harbor very close to the remains of the battleship USS Arizona, sunk by the Japanese on that December 7, 1941, thus starting the American phase of World War II.  Both ships were built at the New York Naval Shipyard, more popularly known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which no longer exists.  

September 2, 2017