Saturday, August 14, 2010

V-J Day in Detroit


An envelope found deep in one of the many boxes of Millie's, was labeled, "V.J Day in Detroit with Lila, Art and Millie".  It contained these photos, and more.  Art was her only brother.  Lila, believe to be her cousin, Lillian Mary (Lila) Decher.

Art is in the photo at the bottom right.  Millie is the young lady blowing her horn, center bottom; she is also the lady walking hand in hand with a fella on the top right, name of the fellow is unknown.

From Wikipedia:  "Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day, also known as Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is a name chosen for the day on which the Surrender of Japan occurred, effectively ending World War II, and subsequent anniversaries of that event.

The term has been applied to both the day on which the initial announcement of Japan's surrender was made in the afternoon of August 15, 1945 in Japan and to August 14, 1945 where it is observed as V-J Day in the United States when it was announced because of time zone differences in the Western Europe, the Americas, the Pacific Islands, and Australia and to September 2, 1945 when the formal signing of the surrender was made.

V-J Day is recognized as an official holiday only in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The holiday's official name is "Victory Day", and it is observed on the second Monday of August."

I chose to publish this collage on August 14th, as that is the day the infamous Sailor kissing the Nurse photo was taken in New York City. You can see that photo here.



Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

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3 comments:

Barbara Poole said...

What perfect timing to share a good piece of history. Love the photos and it must be thrilling to learn so much about Millie and see her when she was so vibrant. She was so organized.

Dorene from Ohio said...

How wonderful that you found these great photos!
It makes history so real!!

Heather Wilkinson Rojo said...

This morning I saw on Good Morning America all the people reproducing that famous kiss in Times Square. Your post was great, and I especially love the envelope with your relative's handwriting. I enlarged the photo to see it up close. Don't you love having something in Millie's own penmanship, and the photos to go along with the story?