Remembering the End of World War II
By Tyler Wilson, Museum Volunteer
US Employment Service Poster, c.1945
Courtesy of Library of Congress
September 2 marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, the greatest global conflict of the modern era. This war was a struggle over competing political and social ideologies that shaped the world in which we now live at a great cost.
Desmond T. Doss (1919–2006)
Gift of Desmond T. Doss
After the German surrender on May 7, 1945, President Harry Truman made the momentous decision to utilize atomic bombs, the first and only occasion such devices have been used in war. Two different atomic bombs were dropped in Japan, one in the city of Hiroshima and the other on Nagasaki, killing roughly 120,000 people and leaving many more riddled with the ill effects of radiation poisoning. Truman believed the “nuclear option” was necessary to save thousands of American lives from being lost in a prolonged struggle with Japan, despite the guaranteed loss of thousands of innocent Japanese lives. While debates concerning the use of these weapons persist to this day, the atomic bombs did accomplish their mission. The Japanese surrendered on August 15, 1945, and the war officially came to an end on September 2, 1945, after a formal surrender aboard the USS Missouri.
WWII Loan Drive
Gift of Harris Tire Company
Desmond T. Doss, a local World War II conscientious objector and Medal of Honor winner, has a nationally recognized story, but those familiar with Lynchburg’s military service history know that the city has been home to many more service members, each with his or her own valuable story.
Much like other parts of the country, Lynchburg residents joined in the war effort abroad and at home, with local factories operating around the clock, pilots training at Preston Glenn airport, and citizens purchasing war bonds. When the war ended, Lynchburg joined the rest of the nation in celebrating and hoping for a new era devoid of global conflict.
While international cooperation continues to be a delicate endeavor, humanity has succeeded in avoiding a third world war and nuclear conflict, in part due to the memory of World War II and those who served, both in Lynchburg and abroad. The local men who lost their lives in the war are commemorated on Monument Terrace located in front of the Lynchburg Museum.
Hiroshima, Japan, in aftermath of atomic bomb in August, 1945
Courtesy of Library of congress
Further Reading
“Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki”
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki#:~:text=On%20August%206%2C%201945%2C%20during,later%20die%20of%20radiation%20exposure.