Fort Miles to celebrate Victory over Japan day Sept. 2

Fort Miles Historical Association will hold its ninth Victory over Japan ceremony at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 2, in the shadow of its USS Missouri gun display outside the Fort Miles Museum in Cape Henlopen State Park, Lewes.

The annual ceremony marks the official end to World War II and honors the 774 Delawareans who were armed forces members and merchant mariners, and died serving their country in that war.

The morning of Sept. 2, 1945, nearly four years after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Allied and Japanese delegations met aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay to sign documents to end World II. After reading a statement, Gen. Douglas MacArthur directed the Japanese representatives to sign the instruments of surrender for the Allied and Japanese governments.

The ceremony will include an account of the day of the Japanese surrender and a reading of MacArthur’s speech. FMHA volunteers will read the names of 50 Delawareans who died in the war while tolling a ship’s bell after each name. Each honoree’s name, rank, service branch, hometown, and date and location of passing will be read.

This year’s ceremony also will feature a tribute to three WWII veterans who are attending the ceremony as special invited guests of FMHA. They are Sgt. George McCarthy, who served with the Army Air Corps in the China-Burma-India theater while stationed in Kunming, China; John A. Reichert, a Navy aviation machinist’s mate and flight engineer on Martin PBM-5 Mariner aircraft flying off the U.S. Atlantic Coast and in the Pacific Theater; and Raymond Sproul, a gunner’s mate first class who served on a Navy submarine chaser in the Atlantic and on the battleship USS Iowa after the war.

To learn more, go to fortmilesmuseum.org under Tours and Events.