In the last of the major milestones marking the 75th anniversary of World War II, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and a small, coronavirus-reduced band of aging veterans and local officials gathered on the USS Missouri Wednesday to highlight the Sept. 2, 1945, signing of a peace treaty with Japan formally ending the great conflict.
In a ceremony in the waters off Pearl Harbor, Mr. Esper on Wednesday compared the Allies’ struggle against Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany to challenges the United States and its allies face today.
Speaking from aboard the USS Missouri, Mr. Esper noted that the venerable battleship now rests at naval installation where more than 2,400 Americans were killed in a Japanese sneak attack that launched the U.S. into the war in December 1941.
“This morning, we pay tribute to all those we lost on that infamous day in 1941 and to the millions more who demonstrated our collective resolve and commitment to freedom in the years of war and hardship that following,” Mr. Esper said.
Among those he mentioned were Dorie Miller — the namesake of the U.S. Navy’s newest aircraft carrier. A mess attendant aboard the USS West Virginia that day, Mr. Miller aided his mortally wounded captain beforing manning an anti-aircraft gun to help fight off the attack, although he had no formal training.World War II cost more than 70 million lives and resulted in “unimaginable loss” for the U.S. and its allies, Mr. Esper said. Virtually no household was left untouched by the scale or scope of its destruction, but it ultimately led to the creation of a new world order out of the rubble of the old.
“The war fundamentally altered the global balance of power and reshaped the international order into one led by like-minded nations, grounded in common purpose and shared values that prepared them well for a decades-long struggle against Soviet communism that would soon follow,” he said.
As Americans realized they could no longer rely on two great oceans to protect them from conflicts that began in other regions, the end of the war prompted the U.S. to assume the mantle of leadership. The U.S. built relationships with like-minded countries, Mr. Esper said, that were based on respect for the sovereignty of nations.
“The result was today’s international rules-based order that has provided security, prosperity and stability to billions of people around the world for well over a half-century,” he said.
The Associated Press reported that COVID-19 restrictions greatly reduced the scale of the planners’ original celebration, which was envisioned as a blockbuster event with parades through Waikiki, movie premieres, galas and thousands of people gathered to honor the veterans.
Organizers said they were forced to scale back radically after a recent surge in coronavirus cases in Hawaii and the logistics of quarantining visitors. Veterans from around the country were able to watch the 75th anniversary ceremony on a livestream feed.
“Well, I was very disappointed, yes. I was hoping to maybe see a friend or two,” Jerry Pedersen, a 95-year-old Marine veteran who was not allowed to make the trip, told the AP. “I think we’re going to go ahead and have a little thing for ourselves here, and I just want to share with at least my family and a couple of other folks some of the feelings that I was going to express when I got there.”
Lambert Wai, a 99-year-old Army veteran, remembered a very different scene in Honolulu in 1945, as spontaneous street celebrations broke out when he and his fellow soldiers learned the war with Japan was officially over.
“When they got the word, there were so many screams going up,” Mr. Wai told the Honolulu State-Advertiser. “So many parties going on. People yelling. People jumping in the streets. It was amazing.”
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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