The Japanese surrender on board the <i>U.S.S. Missouri</i> in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945
date: label: Date made
content: 1945
name: label: photographer
content: Mydans, Carl
notes: label: Description
content: Early Sunday morning on September 2, 1945, aboard the new 45,000-ton battleship <i>U.S.S. Missouri</i> and before representatives of nine Allied nations, the Japanese signed their surrender. At the ceremonies, General MacArthur stated that the Japanese and their conquerors did not meet "in a spirit of mistrust, malice or hatred but rather, it is for us, both victors and vanquished, to rise to that higher dignity which alone benefits the sacred purposes we are about to serve."
label: Description
content: Despite these words, none of the Japanese delegates were saluted by any of the high-ranking officers. Gen. Carl A. Spaatz later revealed that U.S. planes had been ready with bombs to halt any last-minute treacherous act on the part of the Japanese. Seeing a deckful of high Allied officers on the <i>U.S.S. Missouri</i> might have presented a tempting target for a final suicide attack.
label: Description
content: In this image, Mydans captured Gen. Yoshijiro Umezu, Chief of the Army General Staff, signing the Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters. Watching from across the table are Lt. Gen. Richard K. Sutherland and Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Representatives of the Allied Powers stand behind General MacArthur.
label: Description
content: When asked how he attained such a good shooting position at the surrender, Mydans answered that "being in combat, knowing the generals, covering the war over a long time helped a lot." The first outfit to head out of Okinawa was the 11th Airborne, commanded by Gen. Joe Swing. Since Mydans had been alongside Swing during some of the fighting, he was lucky enough to be chosen by the general to get on that first plane.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Japan: Tokyo Bay
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Photographic History
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content: Photography
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content: Carl Mydans
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Mydans, Carl. Carl Mydans, Photojournalist
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0228.086
label: accession number
content: 2005.0228
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0228.086
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Photograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 20 in x 27 5/16 in; 50.8 cm x 69.4436 cm