On this day, May 8, 1945, President Harry Truman announced to the American people that the forces of Nazi Germany had surrendered in World War II and that “the flags of freedom are flying throughout Europe.”
The day is known as Victory in Europe Day or VE Day, and there are celebrations around the world to mark the end of World War II in Europe.
The war had lasted almost five years when American and Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944, as defense.gov notes.
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That invasion marked the beginning of the end for Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. In less than a year, Germany would surrender and Hitler would be dead.
But in his VE Day address to the nation, Truman also warned that the Allies needed to “work to end the war” by defeating the Japanese in the Pacific.
President Harry S. Truman is shown sitting in the White House library, with a sign reading “The Buck Stops Here” in the foreground, circa 1950. (Photosearch/Getty Images)
In a press conference to the nation on May 8, Truman said, in part: “This is a solemn but glorious hour. General Eisenhower informs me that the forces of Germany have surrendered to the United Nations. The flags of the freedom wave throughout Europe”. “.
And he added: “We are also celebrating my birthday, today too.” (He was born on May 8, 1884.)
As author David A. Smith noted in an op-ed for Fox News in 2015, “When news of the German surrender reached New York City, Times Square was closed to traffic for six hours as hundreds of thousands of people came in droves.” streets.”
“Times Square was closed to traffic for six hours as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets.”
Smith also said, “The city's telephone company reported its busiest day in history and the subway had to put extra trains into service to accommodate the crowds. It rained ticker tape in the canyons of Wall Street.”
Smith also wrote: “British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said that the news of the German surrender was 'the signal of the greatest outburst of joy in the history of mankind,' and it was difficult to disagree. Many soldiers in the field witnessed “You could hear the champagne corks being popped all day long,” said a sergeant from the famous 101st Airborne Division who, after the news broke, watched his friends distribute the champagne. wine from the liberated cellar of Hermann Goering.
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Truman, on May 8, continued during his press conference: “For this victory, we join together in offering our thanks to the Providence that has guided and sustained us during the dark days of adversity. Our joy is sober and dominated by a supreme awareness of the terrible price we have paid to rid the world of Hitler and his evil gang.”
“We can pay the debt we owe to our God, to our dead and to our children, only with work, with incessant devotion to the responsibilities before us.”
He continued: “Let us not forget, my compatriots, the pain and anguish that today inhabit the homes of so many of our neighbors, neighbors whose most priceless possession has been given as a sacrifice to redeem our freedom.”
Truman also said: “We can pay the debt we owe to our God, to our dead, and to our children, only with work, with unceasing devotion to the responsibilities before us. If I could give you just one motto, For the next months, that word is work, work and more work.
He further said: “We must work to end the war. Our victory is only half over.”
President Harry S. Truman, left, is shown congratulating Hershel “Woody” Williams, who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Iwo Jima on Oct. 5, 1945, at the White House. (Courtesy of the US Department of Defense)
Truman noted that “the Japanese people have felt the weight of our land, air and naval attacks. As long as their leaders and armed forces continue the war, the attack power and intensity of our blows will constantly increase and bring devastating consequences.” destruction of Japan's industrial war production, its maritime transport and everything that supports its military activity.
Said Truman: “The longer the war continues, the greater the suffering and hardship that the people of Japan will endure, all in vain. Our blows will not cease until the Japanese military and naval forces lay down their arms in unconditional surrender.”
“Our attacks will not cease until the Japanese military and naval forces lay down their arms in sign of unconditional surrender.”
It is also notable that on May 8, Truman announced that Sunday, May 13, 1945, would be “a day of prayer.”
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He added: “I call on the people of the United States, whatever their faith, to join together in offering joyful thanks to God for the victory we have won and to pray that He will support us to the end of our current struggle and guide us .on the paths of peace.”
As the Truman Library and many other sources have noted, after assuming the presidency following the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 12, 1945, Truman learned of the Manhattan Project, a secret scientific effort to create an atomic bomb.
In 1945, Harry Truman (1884-1972), the 33rd president of the US. After succeeding Franklin D. Roosevelt as president during the final months of World War II, Truman was forced to make the decision to put end the war with Japan by dropping the atomic bomb. (MPI/Getty Images)
(America's secret development of the atomic bomb began in 1939 with the support of then-President Roosevelt, as History.com notes. “The project was so secret that FDR did not even inform his fourth-term vice president, Truman, that existed. “)
The Potsdam Declaration, an ultimatum issued by the United States, Great Britain, and China on July 26, 1945, called for Japan's unconditional surrender. The declaration was made at the Potsdam Conference in Potsdam, Germany.
The Potsdam Declaration demanded the unconditional surrender of the Japanese government, warning of “prompt and total destruction,” as the Truman Library notes.
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Eleven days later, on August 6, 1945, receiving no response, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, destroying most of the city.
Three days later, on August 9, 1945, another bomb was dropped, this time on Nagasaki.
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During this time, the Soviet Union also declared war on Japan.
Japan officially surrendered to the United States on August 15 and “the war was finally over.”
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