Following the Okinawa campaign, the units of 1st Marine Division were preparing for the Invasion of Japan, but formal surrender on September 2, 1945, changed the plans. Ross was promoted to the rank of colonel at the same time and appointed commanding officer of 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division under his old superior, major general DeWitt Peck. The Seventh Marine Regiment was ordered to Hopeh Province, China in order to accept surrender of Japanese garrisons in Tientsin and its subsequent repatriation to Japan.