Let us pray. Holy god, we gather today at this special place to remember a tragic chapter in human history. We remember lives sacrificed for freedom, and we remember those who served to bring about freedom. And we remember the sur render that brought about a culmination to that tragic chapter in history. May in our remembrance we take hope that justice will come and must at times be brought to bear through conflict. For those whom we stand on the shoulders who made this nation great, we give thanks. For those who still have hurts and pains of this chapter of war, and other wars, we ask for peace and their brg. And we beseat you oh god to help all of us strive for a better world, and diligently work for greatness in our own land. Our country has been truly blessed by you, o god, and has been a shining city on a hill for justice, care, compassion, and right in the world. Help us keep our shining city bright. In your holy name i pray, amen. Please, be seated. Its going to be very hot today. And i would urge you all to drink plenty of water. You world war ii veterans, you can drink anything you want. [ laughter ] im so pleased to be here today and especially on this day where we commemorate vj day, it is a special day for our country, its a day that was set aside by president harry truman, commemorate the end of the deadliest conflict in human history. It is also a day when we can celebrate the unity and spirit when the American People came together with our allies, some of whom are with us today, and we can celebrate the unity and the spirit that has allowed us to turn our former enemies into our allies and friends. We are privileged to have with us today the United States navy band who will perform a musical patriotic salute for our veterans. [ applause ] many thanks to the National Parks service, the caretakers of the e moral, for their exemplary efforts to maintain the world war ii memorial and bring honor to the greatest generation. The friends of the memorial are pleased to partner with the National Parks service in the effort to preserve the legacy at the memorial and to cohost these special commemorative events. Representing the National Park service is superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks of the National Parks service, miss karen kuturoua. [ applause ] good morning. Hello, gentlemen. On behalf of the National Parks service, my pleasure so mr. Speaker welcome you to the World War Two memorial. As we mark the 70th anniversary of the victory over japan, which effectively brought to a close of the conflict in American History. And i would also like to remind us, its been 70 of years of peace between our countries. The world war ii memorial recognizes those as served in all theaters of the war honors those who fail and recognizes the victory they achieved to restore freedom and end tyranny around the globe. As we begin todays ceremony, i would like to thank and recognize mr. Joshua bunting iii, hes the chairman of the friends of the world war ii memorial, our Partner Organization in the care of this memorial and cosponsor of this mornings ceremony, National ParksService Thanks you in partnering and we share in your mission to ensure that the legacy and sacrifices of all world war ii veterans are not forgotten. And its truly my pleasure, and privilege to welcome former senator majority leader bob dole. [ applause ] a long time supporter of veterans and to this memorial. Frequently would see him at the memorial and it is or pleasure having him here. And hes a threetime decorated for his bravery and sacrifice in combat during world war ii, senator dole, served as chairman of the National Campaign that raised private contributions that largely funded this construction of the world war ii memorial. To all the members of our armed forces and veterans who are here, thank you, thank you for your service. And we honor, and we are honored by your presence. And this morning, at this the memorial and boy, is it a hot day, but surely you came because it really means a lot to you and it means a lot to the National Parks service that you are here, there is no tribute, no commemoration, no honor that can truly recognize the magnitude of your service and your sacrifice and really the sacrifice of your families. At the surrender ceremony aboard the uss missouri, on september 2, 1945, 70 years ago today, general Douglas Mcarthur said, it is my earnest hope, indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion, a better world shall emerge out of the blood and cartridge of the past. A world found upon faith and understanding, a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his cherished wish for freedom, tolerance, and justice. And a world still struggling to achieve universal peace, to this day, and understanding herein lies the rev lens of history and the power of our nations sacrifi sacrificed, excuse me, sacred memorials. These places nearly not gran et, marble, reminders of men and women who fought and struggled and ultimately were victorious, they remind us of the what ordinary things from people with otherwise ordinary lives. They help us understand the monumental trials and sacrifices that have shaped our nation. Our government and society. And reminds us of what we can achieve, reminds us of our nation. I promise you that we will be here every day of every year watching over this place to keep it, to protect it, to pass along the stories heroism and sacrifice to future generations of americans. For its simply not a memorial that we preserve, it is our birthright as a nation. Purchase at an imaginable case, and one that we will care for with all the reverence and demands. And i would also like to point out our park rangers who come here every day to care for this and talk to the visitors and our volunteers, youll see them with the yellow caps and the yellow shirts, they are here too because they are dedicated to this memorial. I would also like to thank the maintenance crew. All the people that come here and really, really want to do a terrific job for those that come here and experience this memorial. Thank you very much. [ applause ] thank you, karen. Here with us today to represent the ceremonys cohost is the chairman of the board for the friends of the National World war ii memorial, and my fellow Ranger School graduate, ladies and gentlemen, i give you mr. Josiah bunting iii. [ applause ] thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Most americans dont know the second, third, fourth, and fifth verses of america the beautiful, let me recite one of them for you. O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self their country loved. And mercy more than life. There could be no more fitting acknowledgment of the service and sacrifice of those who heroes that we are privileged to be among this day. Perhaps the most famous of our allies during the Second World War was Winston Churchill. He constantly said, succeeding generations must not be allowed to forget your service and your sacrifice. Many of us here today are children, your children, and grandchildren and friends, i am concerned about American Students who are now in school and high school and college. Help me, all of us, let us commit ourselves to renewing their interest in and knowledge of your sacrifice. We are proud to salute you on this glorious day. Thank you. Thank you. Today we mark the seventh anniversary of the end of the asia pacific phase of the Second World War. The surrender ceremony towered as political theater of the highest order in a complex weave of alert and settle symbolism. It was tokyo bay, and the decks of a great warship. This completed a circle of four years duration which mirrored a setting also on the decks of a warship when president Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill committed their nations to the highest lick it charter. Japans final decision to surrender would occur four years later from the exact day from the declaration of the kplik parter to the public. The battleship missouri represented one stellar product of the kmok si. Generously with her allies and sometimes at great cost. The missouri merged most striking lines that fused elegance and power, internally she boasted advanced engineers and state of the art electronics. Both of these now sparkling as american fortes. As we come to a closeup of the scene, a piece of symbolism comes into focus. The germans surrendered to american command in may 1945, transpired in a School Building in rems, literally in the middle of the night. Those of rank and prestige dominated the dimly lit hall with a contingent of citizens in uniform present. The people are allied commander, dwight d. Eisenhower who was still reeling in revulsion over the scenes he witnessed at german concentration camps refused to attend. The scene in tokyo bay on the missouri provided a staggering contrast. It was daylight wl a vast expansion view, teaming with 258 warships. On seemingly every available overlook aboard the missouri, clustered citizen sailors in their whites, the proud representatives of all those citizens in europe who had overwhelmingly carried the battle to the face of the enemy and it paid the highest price. They were there by right, not by sufferance. A table rested on the deck beside a massive structure of a main battery turt, its barrels raised in salute, not menace. It was a subtle table covered with a green blaze cover, and expression of the american pension for utility over or nato finality. As we put in the fact that u. S. Had not fought alone, high ranking officers from her allies occupied a prominent position facing the table. These were representatives from china, britain, the soviet union, australia, canada, france, the netherlands, and new zealand. They stood occupy in their formal uniforms with ties and high button collars. They wore guilt badges of rank and decorations. Scores of american officers of all services stood in loose ranks facing the table from the inboard side. They also sported collar uniforms wearing only minimal insignia of rank. This in formality proposed the future. On the missouri, named for harry s. Trumans home state, a glass case rested near the table. It contained the flag flown by matthew pantherfully 1853 when he initiated formal relations with japan. From the missouris main mast flew the very flag that have flown over the u. S. Capitol on december 7th, 1941. The two flags signalled the end of one historical period and the dawn of a new one. Once the japanese dog asian arrived at 8 52 a. M. , Douglas Mcarthur started out to a battery of microphones behind the simple table. Standing on other side of mcarthur and just behind him at one point where Lieutenant GeneralJonathan Wainwright who surrendered and panthers value who surrendered at singapore, both endured over three years of japanese captivity and their visibly wasted appearance exemplified some of the worst facets of japans war. Mcarthur would deliver what in my view was one of the greatest or rations by an american during world war ii. All of them connected to the asia pacific phase of the war, not to europe. The first had been president roosevelts immortal day of speech on december 8, 1941. Roosevelt had paralleled lincolns gettysburg address for the sublimes virtues of levity as well as cadence and phrasing. The second speech was a sermon by rabbi rolland giddleson on ooeg gee ma. He looked down on the volcanic ash housing the remains of his comrades and friends, and he said, here lie officers in men, negros and white, rich men and poor together. Here are protestants, catholics, and jews, together. Here no more prefers another because of his faith or despises him because of his color. Here there are no courts for how many from each group are admitted or allowed. Among these men there is no discrimination, no prejudices, theirs is the highest and purest democracy. And now before the microphones and grasped in his hands a sheaf of papers that boert words, crafted like those of roosevelt and giddleson, words of his own mind alone. And from the firm voice rolled the words, we are gathered here representatives of the major warring powers to conclude a solemn agreement wrsh peace may be restored. The issues involving dwer gent ideals have been determined on the battlefields of the world and hence are not for our discussion or debate. Nor is it here for us to meet representing as we do a major of the of the nert a spirit of distrust, malice, or hatred, but rather, it is for us both victors and vanquished to rise to the higher dignity which alone fits the purposes which we are about to service, committing all of our people unreservedly the faithful compliance with the understanding they are here formerly to assume. It is my earnest hope indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion, a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past, a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wishes for freedom, tolerance, and justice. Mcarthur had totally ashoed any humiliation for the japanese participants. He summoned the representatives forward to sign the surrender. After the representatives or the allies had signed at 9 25 a. M. , mcarthur declared, let us pray that peace now be restored and that god will preserve it always. Then facing the japanese delegation, he intoned, these proceedings are now closed. A massive flyby had been competitor graphed to punk kuwait the end. Until that moment, it was forbidden. At the instant the ceremony concluded, the clouds parted as though on devine cue. Under fresh sunlight, 462 b29s founded a benediction. And a blessing was in order. By a conservative count, the Asian Pacific floor had killed 25 million human beings. Only about six million of these were combatants. Of these, about three million were chinese and two million were japanese. That means that 19 million noncombatants had died. That is a yash owe of nonto combatants of 31 which is notably higher than even the awful arithmetic of horror in europe. Of that 19 million, about one million were japanese who died from all causes. That means for every japanese who died, 17 or 18 other noncombatants had died, about twothirds of them chinese. That facts like these are almost totally unknown among our people today speaks ill of our historical memory. But the asiapacific phase arguably accomplish more to shape the century thanl the european counterpart. As mcarthur would report, it was from this basin of emancipated world that the nations of china, of india, of japan, of the philippines, of singapore would rise to the position they hold today. All of them, all of them owing their position to the events of this war. So its totally appropriate that we should commemorate this day and this event, and remember the sacrifices of those who came before us. And above all, that we should never, never forget the cost, thank you. [ applause ] the United StatesNavy Memorial band will now perform another musical patriotic salute to our veterans. I havent heard a thing that anybody said, so if i repeat something, well, let me know. I thought this would be a good place to announce my candidacy for president. Some people thought i should wait until i got a little older. But anyway, i still want a recount, but that probably wont happen. Sloa sloankim a proud world war ii veteran. That were 16. 5 million of us that served in world war ii. And now were done to about 850,000. And we lose about 600 every day. We are really the disappearing generation, and this memorial is a great tribute, and it should have been built 30, 40 years ago but we finally decided if congress wasnt going to move, we would just raise the money privately. And congress did appropriate rate about 16 million, and we raised privately over 170 million from people like you all across the line and this is now the most visited memorial in d. C. And they had a program called honor flag, which some of the world war ii veterans in the audience are familiar with, but the Program Brings veterans lets say back from sacramento and they come with a guard in, make certain they dont fall or whatever or jump in the water. At no cost to the veterans, if your dad or grand dad hasnt been here to see the me moral, starting in september, its going to be a little cooler. If anybodys cold, ill be happy to loan you my coat for a while, but, i dont think anybodys cold. And ive met thousands and thousands of world war ii, korean and vietnam veterans, and some afghanistan and iraqi veterans. So its a wonderful opportunity to celebrate with all these distinguished people vv day. I was in italy, so we ended the war on may 8th, as i was wounded on april 14th, roosevelt died on april 12th, and we were all young, 19, 20yearolds, and we were all sad and in tears because he was our commander in chief, and we werent in the politics, so we delayed our push to get the germans out of italy, and i was second lieutenant, and they were kind of expendable in those days, and and i replaced a youre welcome man that had been killed and that i tried to save my radio man and when i went out to pull him into the ravine, german gave me a shot that kept my hospitalized for about three years. But what i want to say is the greatest country on the face of earth and we shouldnt forget it and if you think about world war ii, can you imagine what would have happened, had we lost . What language wed be speaking, whether wed have any freedom or the liberty that we enjoy today, and i worry sometimes that young people dont hear much about history anymore. And many come to the world war ii memorials with their fathers or grandfathers, and its a great history lesson. Look at the atlantic and the pacific where we are victorious in both places, jeregermany is a great ally, and so is japan. So ive never understood why the japanese murdered 100 american soldiers after they surrendered. Now theyre our friends and we have many friends that we introduced earlier from taiwan and from aust