Status - John Skinner - USS St. Croix
The St. Croix left New Caledonia on the 3rd with a complement of troops for the Philippines. The forces would be landed at Tarragona on the east side on Mindanao, for mop up operations.
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Fighting continues on Okinawa, in the Philippines and in New Guinea. Many ships continue to be damaged or sunk by kamikaze aircraft near Okinawa.
V-E Day
On the 8th, the formal surrender documents were signed by Nazi representatives in Berlin; May 8th became Victory in Europe Day. There were celebrations, but many of them were muted as the path to, and cost of, victory in the Pacific was still unclear. Prime Minister Churchill and President Truman gave speeches, and Truman declared a national day of prayer for the 13th.
Mary McLaughlin:
Finally, in the spring, the war ended in Europe. Everyone was happy about it but we really couldn't rejoice too much because everyone thought that defeating Japan would take forever. The Japanese were fierce fighters and would fight to the bitter end. It appeared that Japan would have to be invaded and the casualties didn't bear thinking about. John was training on an attack ship at the time.
In 1945 in the Pacific the Japanese had begun to use Kamikaze pilots. They would fly their planes directly toward the powder magazines of ships and blow them up. They were especially bad at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
More Information:
- Official Navy Chronology, pp. 671-678.
- The Liberation of the Philippines, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 228-302.
- Victory in the Pacific, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 250-272.
- USS_Saint_Croix
- Events of May, 1945
NEXT POST: JUNE 1ST
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