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Forrestal, James, (1892-1949) [Naval Dispatch Announcing Victory in Japan]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09649.01 Author/Creator: Forrestal, James, (1892-1949) Place Written: s.l. Type: Typed document Date: 15 August 1945 Pagination: 1 p. ; 16.6 x 20 cm. Order a Copy

Typed Naval dispatch concerning the end of World War II. This message was received in the radio room of the USS Vella Gulf CVE-111, an escort carrier, at sea in the Northwest Pacific with 26th carrier division of the 7th fleet (just days before she had been anchored at Okinawa). The message reads "All hands of the United States Navy Marine Corps and Coast Guard may take satisfaction in the conclusion of the war against Japan and pride in the part played by them in accomplishing that result. The demobilization of the Armed Forces of the United States and the return to conditions of peace will create problems taxing the patience and control almost as great as the tensions of war. I wish the discipline which has served so well to bring this democracy through hours of great crisis be maintained to the end that nothing shall mar the record of accomplishment and glory that now belongs to the Navy Marine Corps and Coast Guard."

Forrestal, James, 1892-1949

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