Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 16, 1995 TAG: 9508160059
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Tokyo newspaper, Asahi, called upon the Japanese to maintain national unity "if worse comes to worst," saying atomic bombing and Russia's declaration of war have "greatly intensified the gravest national crisis."
The Allies advised Japan they would dictate orders to her emperor "from the moment of surrender" and tossed back to Tokyo the bitter decision on immediate peace or more war. But to Washington, London, Moscow and Chung-king the hour of final victory appeared near in history's most horrible war.
Lessening Navy needs brought a halt to the building of 95 ships costing $1.2 billion, and Army officers told of plans to cut war purchases by an amount exceeding $25 billion. War mobilizer John Snyder, however, made it clear that the real V-J deluge of cutbacks was yet to come.
FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover said he feared a major postwar crime wave. The FBI's file of criminal records had jumped to 5 million, and one out of every 22 people in the country had been fingerprinted in connection with some major crime, he said.
The Virginia Machine Tool Co. of Bassett had played a small role in the development of the atomic bomb, providing the bomb plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn., with fine tool parts used in the bomb's firing mechanism.
The Roanoke County School Board asked local architect Randolph Frantz to submit preliminary plans for a proposed Cave Spring High School.
Several hundred U.S. and British carrier planes, alerted against Japanese treachery under the guise of conditional surrender, attacked military targets in the Tokyo area.
Gen. Carl Spaatz, commanding general of strategic air forces in the Pacific, pinned the Distinguished Service Cross on Col. Paul W. Tibbets Jr., pilot of the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
A mixed crowd of servicemen and civilians kept a peace watch on the White House as President Truman and his cabinet met to discuss a Japanese government offer to accept the Potsdam ultimatum of unconditional surrender with the proviso that the Japanese emperor be allowed to retain the throne.
From the moment our use of the atomic bomb was announced, there was concern, in part about the wisdom of using it and in part about preventing the future use of it by any nation. Bishop Bromley Oxman, president of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, and John Foster Dulles declared: "If we, a professedly Christian nation, feel morally free to use atomic energy in that way, men everywhere will accept that verdict."
Japan surrendered unconditionally and history's most destructive war was over except for the formalities, President Truman announced at 7 p.m. Eastern War Time on Aug. 14. Gen. Douglas MacArthur was appointed Supreme Allied Commander to receive the surrender. Cease-fire orders were issued to U.S. forces.
Roanoke's V-J Day celebration was set for Victory Stadium at 4 p.m. the day following Truman's announcement.
Emperor Hirohito said he had decided to surrender to avoid the "ultimate collapse and obliteration" of his country by the atomic bomb.
Japanese suicide planes crashed into American troops in the Ryukyus after the announcement of the surrender.
Better roads, new and bigger buildings and more extensive recreation facilities and planning for employment of World War II veterans were part of the state and local after-war planning. Meanwhile, Washington was preparing to turn American industry back over to the production of civilian goods. Restrictions on horse racing, taxi-cabs and fairs were cancelled.
The atomic bomb saved the lives of 1 million Americans and 250,000 Britons by making the invasion of Japan unnecessary, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared in Parliament.
by CNB