HERALD AND NEWS, KLAMATH FALLS, OREGON
PAGE
USS Missouri Lies At Rest
10 Years After War's End
MONDAY, AUGUST 29. 1955
(Fdilor'i Note: The battleship
Missouri lies silent and deserted 10
ye&ra alter the Japanese surren
dered on ner decks to end World
War II. Here, by a correspondent
wno waicnea ine surrender, is the
story 01 a de-activated dread-
naught's greatest moment; and the
cnanges a decade has brought)
By Ml'RLlN SPENCER
ABOARD THE USS MISSOURI
ffl The stars are sone trom the
battleship Missouri 10 years after
that Historic day when the Japa
nese signed the surrender docu-
i ments to end World War II.
The bis gray ship lies In virtual
retirement, like most il not all of
the military leaders who gathered
on her gallery deck tor her great
est hour.
I went back to the Mighty Mo
for the first time in 10 years and
as I stood on her "surrender deck
in Puget Sound Naval Shipyard,
Wash., the memories tumbled over
themselves of that gray Sunday in
Tokyo Bay when the war .ended
and men prayed for eternal peace
and understanding between na
tion;.
How different it is now! On this
day, 10 years after, the well
scrubbed wooden deck is empty
and unmarked except for a metal
plaque which proclaims that on
Sept. 2, 1945 (Tokyo time) the Ja
panese signed the document that
ended the greatest war the world
has known.
Now the 888-foot dreadnaught Is
chained to a dock In this West
Coast naval shipyard her only
function as headauarters shin for
th Bremerton Group. Pacific Re
serve Fleet, commanded by Capt.
Karl P. Poehlmann of Erie, Pa.
This means, simply, that she is
the command ship for 36 craft of
the mothball fleet, which may or
may not so to war again. .
The Mighty Mo now looks to the
green hills of Bremerton and the
water lapping genlly at her sides
Is a dirty green. Her nine 19-inch
;' euns lie flat, three abreast in their
' sealed turrets, and her fast-firing
antiaircraft guns are encased in
silver, igloo-type coverings to pre
serve them for possible future use,
Hit 10 years ago the scene was
Tokvo Bay and the ship was ready
for a ceremony which would last
for only 20 minutes but would give
the Missouri the distinction of be
ing the only warship on which a
surrender ceremony had been
signed.
On that day the Missouri's guns
were pointed skyward, looking to
ward Tokyo, the capital of Japan.
Wilh her were other ships of the
greatest naval striking force the
world had ever seen.
Aboard the Missouri were hun
dreds of white-uniformed sailors
and khakl-clad Marines and war
correspondents and of course, the
stars.
There were five-stars like Gen,
TJouelas MacArthur. supreme com
mander of the Allied powers, and
Admirals Chester Nimitz, who
commanded the great American
war fleet, and William F, Halsey,
who led the great naval task forces
of the Facilic. . ... . ,
There were generals Eichelber
ger, Wainwrlght. Perclval, Geiger,
Kreuger and Stillwell and ad
mirals Turner, Towers and Sher
man. And many, many more.
On this day hundreds of men
hung from every vantage point
the huge turrets mounting the Mis
souri's guns, the decks and special
platforms built for the photogra
phers and reporters and newsreel
men. Looking at it now one won
ders how so many could have
Jammed into such a small space.
All eyes were on a sincts spot-
the center of the small gallery
deck, one deck above the main
deck and on the starboard.
right, side. On this spot was a wide
table covered with a green cloth.
Now, standing on the silent, de
serted deck, I thought back on that
historic day and all that it meant.
A few days earlier I had made a
landing at Yokosuka with the Ma
rines and I remembered a battle
hardened fighting man saying:
"Look, no splashes."
It was the first landing this ma
Tine had made which the Japanese
had not opposed with shells which
either hit the invading craft or
splashed nearby. That was what
he meant no more war; peace
was here.
Above the quarters now occupied
by Capt. Poehlmann there is a
second plaque which reads;
"The instrument of surrender
terminating the Second World War
was signed on this ship 2 Sept.
1945, E. longitude date, while she
lay at anchor in Tokyu Bay."
This plaque lists the American
military leaders and the Allied and
Japanese representatives who
signed the Instrument. And then it
relates tersely how, at 0904 ( 9:04
a. m. on this gray, Sunday morn
ing), the Japanese representatives
signed the "instrument of their
country's surrender."
There was more to It than that.
Hours before the ceremony hun
dreds of persons gathered aboard I battleships all.
I the ship, stood In small groups and
chatted. There were Americans in
khaki with their shirts open at the
neck; Australians and Dutch and
Canadians and French and others.
The Russians were the only ones
carrying guns holstered pistols.
The Chinese carried small cere
monial daggers.
No arms were needed. Flanking
the Missouri were scores of Ameri
can and British warships, their
guns ready for any emergency.
And the carriers stood off ready to
launch their planes.
It was in this short period before
the ceremony was scheduled to
start that an Incident occurred
which left a lasting impression.
There was a slight commotion on
the starboard side as a small, dark
gray whaleboat with an American
Hag trailing in the water came
alongside. It' carried the Japanese
delegation.
It made one think that here was
a country, which, shortly after
Pearl Harbor, had the world's
greatest fleet and now it was gone
and the representatives of this
once powerful nation rode in a
small boat.
As they filed on deck, I noticed
that Mamoru Shigemitsu, Japan's
foreign minister, moved slowly be
cause of a wooden leg, holding up
the solemn procession.
Then the Japanese delegation
stood silent, with heads bowed
slightly, before the wide table with
its green cover. There were diplo
mats and military leaders, all rep
resenting the Emperor in defeat.
They had been a bitter enemy
for four years. Then came my
second lasting impression:
Before the Japanese and on the
sides of them were the military
leaders of the great Allied powers,
standing silent in grim, severe
ranks;
The Japanese had no friend
aboard this ship and I thought they
were like the country which they
represented. Because Japan, then,
had no friend In all the world.
Then Gen. MacArthur came
from the admiral's quarters now
marked by the plaque, wearing
khaki trousers with a knife-like
crease and a khaki shirt open at
the neck. On his head was the
famous cap with the elaborate gold
design on the visor. He spoke brief
ly and among his words were
these:
"It is my earnest hope and in
deed 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
founded uppn faith and understand
ing a world dedicated to the dig
nity of man and the fulfillment of
his most cherished wish for free
dom.- tolerance and justice."
Then, at MacArthur's Invitation.
Shigemitsu stepped forward, lean
ing heavily on his cane. He re
moved a yellow glove from his
right hand. He uttered no word,
but as MacArthur sternly watched
he sat down and signed. Gen. Yo
shikiro Umezu followed him to
sigh for the Japanese Imperial gen
eral headquarters.
Then came the most dramatic
moment. Gen. MacArthur sat down
to sign for all the Allied powers.
And he motioned to two men
gaunt, tired, obviously under se
vere strain.
They were Lieut, Gen. Jonathan
Wainwrlght, who surrendered Cor-
regidor to the Japanese, and Brit
ish Gen. A. E. Percival, who had
surrendered Singapore to the , Ja
panese in the first davs of the war.
Both had been in prisoner of war
camps and they showed it.
MacArthur's hand shook slightly
as he gripped the first of five pens
he used to sign the documents. He
gave one to Wainwrlght, the sec
ond to Percival, and retained the
other three.
One after another the other rep
resentatives signed Adm. Nimitz
for the United States and with him
Adm. Halsey. and Rear Adm. For
rest P. Sherman, NImitz's chief of
staff.
It was all over In a few minutes.
but another lasting impression was
left by MacArthur s closing words
a prayer:
Let us pray that peace be now
restored to the world, and that
God will preserve it always."
Trie sun broke through the over
cast and those aboard the big ship
thought it was a good omen,
They could not know that within
five years the Missouri's big guns
would be hurling shells at little-
known, strangely named places in
Korea, or that even alter Korea
the Missouri would not be retired
but placed In mothballs Just in
case.
I remember the words of a
white-clad sailor:
"Boy, this is the biggest show
they ever threw. Now I can go
home."
The Missouri Is home, too, now.
She flies the American flag at her
stern and her company are other
great warships like the Maryland
and Colorado and West Virginia.
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JJlrA U
FIRST FEDERAL SAVINGS and LOAN ASSOCIATION FORMERLY ORGANIZED AUGUST 29th 1934
KLAMATH FALLS, OREGON
DECEMBER 31, 1934
ASSETS
First Mortgage Loan & Other First Liens on Real Estate $5,225.17
Investments and Securities 125.00
Cash on Hand and in Banks 515.80
Deferred Charges and Other Assets 114.59
$5,980.56
LIABILITIES
Savings Account '. $5,143.81
Loans in Process 717.13
Specific Reserves 18.27
General Reserves ; ..21.17 '
Undivided Profits 80.18 101.35
$5,980.56
NUMBER MORTGAGE LOANS 6
NUMBER SAVINGS ACCOUNTS 44
FIRST FEDERAL SAVINGS and LOAN ASSOCIATION
KLAMATH FALLS, OREGON
AUGUST 25, 1955
ASSETS
LIASILI
First Mortgage Loans and other First Loans on Real Estate - $ 9,160,482.13
Loans on Savings Accounts '. 44,716.25
Other Loans - - '. 53,78670
Investments and Securities - - 2,112,875.00
Cash on Hand and in Banks -- 1,251,706.44
Office Building and Equipment (less depreciation) : 28,312.83
Deferred Charges and Other Assets 1,749.50
$12,653,628.85
IES
Savings Accounts $11,206,796.90
Loans in Process 267,275.84
Other Liabilities - v 42,476.40
Specific Reserves 17,627.47
General Reserves 751,582.43
Undivided Profits 367,869.81 1,119,452.24
$12,653,628.85
NUMBER LOAN ACCOUNTS .... 1620
NUMBER SAVINGS ACCOUNTS . . 6253
r i n
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it lira
SAVINGS
;j rc m
AND LOAN ASSOCIATION
IT
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245 East Main
Ph. 3769-Rei. 3254