August 14 is the anniversary of imperial Japan’s 1945 unconditional surrender, marking the end of World War II and the beginning of the collapse for one of the 20th century’s most murderous regimes.
On Friday, Trump issued a proclamation, “Today, our Nation celebrates the 81st anniversary of Imperial Japan’s unconditional surrender—the moment American might brought the Second World War to its end in complete and total victory. On this monumental occasion, we pay tribute to the grit and sacrifice of the warriors who defended our homeland and carried the hopes of the free world upon their shoulders.”
The president condemned the “infamous attack” on Pearl Harbor and described a “fierce and unyielding enemy that tested the strength of American resolve.” He declared, “Meeting that assault head-on, the warfighters of the Greatest Generation crossed thousands of miles of open sea, turned the tide of the conflict at Midway, broke the enemy fleet at Leyte Gulf, and seized the fortress islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.”
The courage, ingenuity, and dogged perseverance of America’s troops brought “an empire of conquest to its knees, freed millions from its brutal occupation, and left the American Flag flying over a Pacific restored to freedom,” Trump added. He went on:
More than 16 million Americans answered the call to serve, and more than 400,000 of them never came home, laying down their lives on distant shores to keep our Nation free. Through their sacrifice, uncommon courage, and selfless devotion to freedom, America emerged from the deadliest war in history stronger, safer, and immortalized as a symbol of freedom, hope, and liberty in every corner of the world. Eighty-one years later, the peace those warriorswon endures, and a free and democratic Japan stands beside the United States of America as one of our closest allies.
The official estimates projected that a million or more Americans were going to die in the land invasion of Japan. This was a view informed by the butchery on every island which Americans had fought so hard to win to that point, where the Japanese had provided countless examples of their fanatical dedication to fighting to the last man, woman, and child. Mothers would even throw their children off cliffs rather than allow them to be captured by Americans.
In fact, the cultural opposition to surrender was so extreme that members of the Japanese war council considered surrender an unthinkable option even after two atomic bombs, necessitating the emperor’s intervention for surrender. Some Japanese officials tried to stage a coup in order to stop the surrender. And by the end of the war, Imperial Japan had massacred up to 10 million people, including civilian slaughters in China, Thailand, Korea, and other Asian nations.
Trump therefore rightly observed, “When Imperial Japan laid down its arms on this day in 1945, America stood victorious over the forces of tyranny, proving to every generation that freedom survives only when brave citizens stand ready to defend it.”
He expressed the most profound gratitude “to the Americans who gave their lives in that struggle, the soldiers who charged across open sand into enemy fire, the Marines who stormed beaches, the sailors who stood their posts on burning decks, and the airmen who took flight into the skies above the Pacific.” He gave his promise that their “valor will forever live on in the American story, the liberty they won will grow stronger in the hands of all who follow, and the Republic they saved will stand as the mightiest force for good the world has ever known.”
Trump concluded, “Together, we salute the Greatest Generation, and we carry their indom[itable] spirit into our own time—proud, vigilant, and free. May God bless the heroes of the Second World War, and may their triumph light the way for our Nation in the centuries to come.” Amen.
Editor's Note: President Trump is fighting to renew America this 250th birthday year.
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