Lead: Enough was enough. The Japanese surrender brings an end to the most destructive war in history.

Tag: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: In two bloody campaigns the United States took the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and with each day during the spring and summer of 1945, B-29 bombers based on Pacific islands were hammering away at the Japanese heartland. By July they had burned out half of the surface area of urban Japan. It was only a matter of time before American troop transports would appear off the coast, set to invade the home islands themselves.

The civilian cabinet in Tokyo realized that defeat was imminent and began sending peace feelers to the United Nations searching for some accommodation that would give them an edge in their running debate with the Japanese military. The army refused to accept defeat and insisted on feverish preparations for a last-ditch defense. At that point the atomic incineration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki convinced Emperor Hirohito to intervene and force the acceptance of "unconditional surrender."

The word spread like wildfire. Robert Trout of CBS News. It is August 14, 1945.

[This is the voice of Robert Trout]

At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts.

Resources

Trout, Robert. "First Bulletin of Japanese Surrender, August 14, 1945," The Years of Crisis: 1933-1945. Sound Recording: CBS Records, D560.

Copyright 1995 by Educational Broadcast, Inc.