News: Abbotsford (16 Aug 1945)

Contact: Robert Lipprandt
Email: bob@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Byrnes, Hirohito, MacArthur, Truman

Source: The Tribune - Phonograph (Abbotsford, WI) 08/15/2012

Originally published in the Abbotsford Tribune, August 16, 1945

President Proclaims End of War with Japan, Tuesday

President Truman, through Secretary of State Byrnes, dispatched an order Tuesday night for the Japanese government to stop the war on all fronts.

With the news that the war was really over came expressions as different as individuals differ. Some immediately gave their thanks for the answer to their prayers. Others reacted with celebrations that were noisy and raucous.

In Abbotsford the sirens and factory whistles blew and a little later the church bells rang. Little parades of cars tooting horns and dragging tin cans drove through the streets. A new little children, waving flags formed a parade all their own and marched down Main Street. One little three-year-old girl caught the significance of the sirens and said, “Now my daddy can come home.”

On Wednesday everything was extremely quiet in Abbotsford, with the business places closed throughout the day. Wednesday evening services were held in all the churches in thanksgiving for the peace restored to the land.

By Thursday stores were open again, but the post office was closed and no mail was delivered on the route as a two-day holiday had been declared by President Truman for all federal employees.

V - J Day will be declared when the peace terms have been fully signed.

Emperor Hirohito was under orders of General MacArthur today to send a fully accredited emissary to Manila to arrange for the formal ceremony of defeated Japan's surrender.