Veterans and others celebrated the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Bakersfield, California on Sept. 2. The event was held at the Kern Veterans Memorial and was closed to the general public due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19.
In addition to six veterans who served during the war, many prominent veteran services organizations were present, including the Sons of the American Legion.
Organizers held the event to commemorate the end of the Pacific theater of the war and in hopes of preventing current and future generations from forgetting the most devastating conflict in human history. Though the event was closed, veterans and family members noted the event still had a big turnout.
At the memorial event were glass panels inscribed with the names of nearly 700 Kern County residents who lost their lives during the war.
The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that in total, 405,339 US servicemembers died during the course of the war. In 2018, the Federation of American Scientists determined of that total, 31,040 servicemembers were from California.
Sept. 2, 1945 – Official End of World War II
Though Imperial Japan declared surrender on Aug. 14, 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, WWII did not officially end until Sept. 2, 1945, when surrender documents were formally signed on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay under the supervision of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Before the atomic bombings, U.S. forces were preparing to launch an invasion of mainland Japan.
In the preceding months, Imperial Japan had suffered two critical and historic defeats at the hands of U.S. forces, first at Iwo Jima, and then at Okinawa.
Former U.S. Navy officer and California native Victor Killingsworth, who attended the memorial event in Bakersfield, witnessed U.S. Marines raise the American flag at Iwo Jima from the USS Artemis. He turns 100 on Nov. 11, Veterans Day.
Author: Christian Southards
Coming from a family with a proud military background and wanting to contribute his writing skills to a worthy cause, Christian began writing for the California American Legion in August of 2020. His father is a 25-year Army Veteran and his grandfather served in the Navy during Vietnam.
