QUESTION ASKED: Is V-J Day anniversary a last hurrah?

Japan declared total surrender to the Allies on Aug. 15, 1945. Many nations do use the 15th for V-J Day remembrances, but President Truman delayed the official U.S. commemoration until Sept. 2, when the formal surrender document was signed aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. I guess, like the coroner of “Oz,” Truman wanted to ensure that imperial Japan was “not only merely dead, but really most sincerely dead.”

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This 75th anniversary is a sobering milestone. 76th or 80th or 90th anniversaries just aren’t as catchy, and by the time the 100th anniversary of V-J Day arrives, only a handful of centenarians with adult memories of World War II will be around for interviews.

As time marches on, “Today In History” articles will mention 75th anniversaries of Churchill’s “iron curtain” speech, the rise of Red China, the beginning of the Korean conflict, etc.; but details of World War II will be even more “irrelevant” than they are now. (This will delight some people. I just read of a young man in Great Britain who demands that schools skip teaching about the war because the Holocaust and warfare are too “intense” for modern sensibilities.)

So, regrettably, this is sort of a “last hurrah” for the Greatest Generation.

That’s why we should all make the most of the occasion. Fly your flag proudly. Dig out a dusty family scrapbook. Ponder how Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s magnanimous treatment of postwar Japan led to friendly ties today. Pray that world leaders may go another 75 years without using an atomic bomb in combat. Do something thoughtful for a veteran, whether they served as sniper or mail clerk.

Earlier: Taking a Second Look at WWII with Victor Davis Hanson’s The Second World Wars.