Letters: Hartley woman recalls 'a glorious day' in 1945
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NATIONAL ARCHIVE PHOTO
Gen. Yoshijiro Umezu, chief of the Japanese army's general staff, signs the Instrument of Surrender on behalf of Japanese Imperial General Headquarters on the battleship USS Missouri, Sept. 2, 1945. Watching from across the table are Army Lt. Gen. Richard K. Sutherland and Supreme Commander of Allied Forces Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Representatives of the Allied powers are behind MacArthur.
To the editor:
It was on Aug. 14, 1945. I was manager of the Gillett Grove Savings Bank, recently purchased by Farmers Trust and Savings Bank of Spencer, Iowa where I was employed.
Someone went inside the Methodist Church in Gillett Grove and rang the church bells. Japan had accepted the Allied surrender terms and the war was over! What a wonderful day.
The church bells rang throughout Gillett Grove. I and others stood in silence. The bells were music to our ears. What a glorious day to have the end of the war. We were happy. Our God is good to us.
Later on Sept. 2, 1945, the Japanese signed the terms of surrender.
Doris Treimer,
Hartley