The Veterans Memorial Museum Newsletter September 2015 The Museum is open Wednesday - Saturday 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. To set up a tour call the Museum at 256-883-3737 during Museum hours. Museum News - by Dennis Gaare Buy a General Admission ticket to the U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum for a friend. Tickets may be obtained at the Museum office or Museum Library office. The Veterans Museum Library now has its own Email: usveteransmuseumlibrary@gmail.com The Madison County Military Heritage Commission was the first to hold a meeting in the newly completed conference room at the Museum. For the day, the room was named "The Tom Kennamer Conference Room" after Mr. Kennamer, a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran and Commission member. Mr. Kennamer is also a well known local television broadcaster. We are grateful to Museum volunteer Mr. Dwayne Hoffman for completely renovating the rooms, formerly part of the City Health Clinic, now used to house the Museum's library and archives. Mr. & Mrs. Michael Poe of Tuscaloosa visited the museum Saturday 8 Aug and presented the Museum with the Uniform, flag, photo and records of their uncle Marvin L. Poe for display and archiving at the Museum. T4 Poe served with distinction in the European Theater during WWII. The photo and flag will be identified and displayed on the Museum's "Wall of Remembrance" and the uniform and records archived for possible future display. The Museum received a signed (autographed) Bound copy off Baa-Baa Black Sheep, signed by "Pappy" Boyington, USMC, Medal of Honor Winner (WWII Pacific). Signed on 25 April 1982. The book is located in the Guadalcanal display. The Museum received a signed (autographed) Bound copy off Baa-Baa Black Sheep, signed by "Pappy" Boyington, USMC, Medal of Honor Winner (WWII Pacific). Signed on 25 April 1982. The book is located in the Guadalcanal display. Page 1
August 1, we received this item for display from a frequent donor and Museum supporter, Mr. W.C. Casey. The story of these cups is incredible! The 506 th Parachute Infantry, 101 st Airborne Division cup of Lt. F.E. Sutherland bears the inscriptions on its base: Holland, Bastogne, Germany. We've researched and could not find any further information on Lt Sutherland. The inscriptions would indicate that he joined the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division after Normandy John Ominski and Alex Green Just completed a 3 dimensional scan of the PYGMY as part of our submission to have it listed on the National Register of Historical vehicles. It was amazing to see the scan transform into lifelike vehicle. Job well done! The Museum hosted the annual West Point Alumni Association Night at the Museum get together on 29 August. Attended by 60+ Members and wives. Upcoming Events The following events are scheduled at the Museum: The 30 Aug arrival of our new M-5 Suart light tank and assorted parts from Washington State. Thanks Randy and Larry G.!!!!. Studebaker Club - 11 Sept Museum Artifact VJ Instruments of Surrender: by Rob Robley The World War 2 Documents of Surrender (Europe and Pacific) on display in the Museum are parchment copies presented to 1st Lt Mark S. Da-Aton, who was captured at Bataan, and survived the Death March. Upon release he weighed 86 lbs. By contrast, the documents are different in context as well as presentation. The European surrender document is type written on a large sheet of paper (folded), and the Pacific document as you can see was printed in the Philippines and transported to Japan for the ceremony. Note: On the European surrender document: No notable Allied commanders signed the document, where as both Mc Arthur and Nimitz, as well as numerous other Allied officers signed the Pacific document. Page 2
NOTE: The typed European Document for the U. S. side was signed by W. B. Smith, (a.k.a. Beetle) and representatives from France and Russia. No one From Great Britain signed the document. The location and date of surrender was written in ink at the time of surrender. These framed documents are on display at the Veterans Museum, directly behind the PYGMY Jeep. Historical facts From U.S Naval Institute Proceedings Japanese Surrender at Tokyo Bay The Instrument of Surrender was only eight paragraphs long, but its intent was clear: "the unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters and of all Japanese armed forces and all armed forces under Japanese control wherever situated." The decision as to the place where the surrender would be was made by President Harry S. Truman. There seemed to be considerable argument as to whether it would be on a carrier, which probably would have been the Yorktown [CV-10], since she was the one that had the most service, or whether it would be on an amphibious ship, or whether it would be ashore. President Truman settled all the argument by telling the Secretary of the Navy that it would be on the Missouri. The Missouri was new, commissioned in June 1944. Captain Murray had assumed command of the battleship in May 1945. Captain Murray first learned of the historic role she was destined to play in Tokyo Bay when the ship received mail in mid-august. His chief yeoman dashed up with a letter: "Captain, the Missouri is going to be the surrender ship. Here's a clipping from the Santa Barbara paper. My wife just sent it." Captain Murray took the clipping to Halsey's chief of staff, Rear Admiral Robert B. Carney, who handed over a justreceived dispatch confirming the assignment. The Missouri would proceed to Tokyo Bay to take the surrender on 2 September. The ship was steaming about 250 miles to the south at the time, so the challenge now was to get her ready. Many gallons of touchup paint would be required. USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay On 26 August, a delegation of Japanese naval officers came aboard from a Japanese destroyer to surrender Yokosuka Naval Shipyard and the Naval District where the first Marine and Navy landing parties would go ashore and to make procedural arrangements for receiving and acting on all U.S. orders. Page 3
On the 27th, more Japanese destroyers came alongside, each with their guns plugged and depressed to the deck, and the ship took aboard Japanese Yokohama Bay and Tokyo Bay pilots. Marine guards with submachine guns kept close watch. The Japanese produced minefield charts, which were compared to the U.S. charts. Captain Murray ordered one of the pilots to return to his destroyer and to steam ahead, leading U.S. destroyers and the Missouri through clear channels. Once back on board, the pilot indicated he wanted his ship to cruise alongside the Missouri so that he would be close at hand to receive any orders. Captain Murray solved the matter by training five-inch guns on the ship, which put on a burst of speed and steamed ahead. When the Japanese then balked at turning on their sonar's to spot any of their submarines that might still be lurking, he repeated his five-inch gun message. "And you know," Captain Murray said, "those turrets hadn't even gotten around when he starting pinging. You could hear him through the hull of the Missouri, he was pinging so hard." On the 29th, the ship anchored off Yokosuka at her designated spot, chosen because it was very close to where Commodore Matthew Perry had anchored in 1853 when he opened Japan. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, then Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces for the occupation and surrender of Japan, arrived the same day from the Philippines and proceeded to his Tokyo headquarters. MacArthur's staff soon advised that the ship should expect 225 correspondents and 75 photographers. The captain and his staff created a chart of numbered circles, indicating where the maximum number of individuals, by name, would be placed on the surrender deck, and, moving vertically, where each of the overflow would be placed higher up on a special platform, turret top, and less desirable spots on the battleship. Captain Murray's planning team anticipated trouble from the photographers and reporters being ushered to less-advantageous spots and gamed how his sailor escorts and Marines would deal with the problem. The ceremony was set for 0900 on 2 September. The Japanese delegation would be arriving by destroyer. MacArthur directed that they not be on board the Missouri's weather deck for more than five seconds, and he did not want them even a fraction of a second late. Captain Murray and his staff set to work on the second-bysecond details, from the ship-to-ship transfer, to movement up the gangway, across a deck, up a deck onward to the surrender table. They knew that Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu had a wooden leg, Note: Nimitz's signature close to his right hand. the result of an assassination attempt years before. The sailor playing the part of "Peg-Leg Pete" strapped a swab handle down their trouser leg, stiffly moving through the rehearsals to give a more precise estimate of the movements and timing. Page 4
The table on which the surrender documents would be signed had been chosen, or so the Missouri's skipper thought. On 31 August Royal Navy Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser embarked in HMS King George V. had sent over a 40-inch-square mahogany table and two upholstered chairs. On the morning of the ceremony, a member of MacArthur's staff arrived with the surrender documents, and "all hell broke loose. - Each was about 40 inches by 20, and they had to be side by side. The British table could not do the job. The Missouri's wardroom table was bolted down. On the run, 15 minutes before the Japanese were to arrive, Captain Murray's staff grabbed a table from the crew's mess deck, "amidst the howls of the mess cook," yanked a green cover cloth off a wardroom table, and set it up on the galley deck. "It looked very nice." The Japanese delegation arrival led by Foreign Minister Shigemitsu and Chief of the Japanese Army General Staff General Yoshijiro. Immediately about the table on which the surrender documents lay stood representatives of the Allied Nations to sign the surrender for their respective governments, and observers from their armed forces. The atmosphere was frigid. After three or four minutes had elapsed, General MacArthur appeared with Admirals Nimitz and Halsey. MacArthur made a short speech stating the purpose of the occasion, concluding with a ringing expression of hope for the future. When it came time The Japanese to sign, the foreign minister sat down awkwardly and his wooden leg went out underneath the green cloth and hit the tie rod holding the collapsible legs of the mess table in place. The table rattled. "You could hear it on the quarterdeck. It moved, but it didn't drop."" MacArthur, Nimitz, and representatives of the Allied Powers signed. As the formalities came to a close at 0925, the sun broke through, and a flight of 450 carrier aircraft, together with several hundred of the Army Air Force aircraft, swept over Missouri and her sister ships." General Information The U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum located in Huntsville Alabama is a 501c3 not-for-profit organization. There are more than 30 historical military vehicles from World War I to the present as well as artifacts and other memorabilia dating back to the Revolutionary War. Displays include a "Merci" 40 et 8 boxcar from World War I, a Cobra attack helicopter, a collection of jeeps, Sherman tanks and Stuarts, a half-track and flags, maps, uniforms and other artifacts from every U.S. conflict. The Museum is located just west of Memorial Pkwy in John Hunt Park at 2060A Airport Road, Huntsville, Al 35801. The U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum is dedicated to promoting the accomplishments of American military men and women. The Museum's web page is www.memorialmuseum.org. The Museum email of is Info@memorialmuseum.org. If you would like to be removed from our mailing list, send REMOVE to usveteransmuseumlibrary@gmail.com If you would like to be ADDED to our mailing list, send Add to Newsletter to usveteransmuseumlibrary@gmail.com Follow the U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum on Facebook. Page 5