Pics of Japanese surrender delegation arriving at le Shima Island Okinawa

2,504 Views | 11 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by BQ78
AGinHI
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AG
Howdy everyone. This is my first post to History. Thought I would share with y'all what seems a rarely documented event.

My mother recently gave me some of my grandfather's WWII photos. He was aboard the USS Hamul (Destroyer Tender) in the Pacific (at Iwo Jima and Okinawa). I had never seen these images of the Japanese surrender and had to do a little research to learn they were in route to the formal surrender.

In my search, I discovered Combat Air Museum which has similar photos and a description of the event:

Quote:

The images show the arrival of the original Japanese surrender delegation on the island of Ie Shima, Okinawa in two "Betty" bombers (Mitsubishi G4M-1) shortly after noon on 19 August 1945.

The delegation of 16 military and civilian representatives disembarked from the 2 bombers and assembled in the shade, under the wing of an American C-54 Skymaster transport plane. There they were addressed by the island American commanders who briefed them about the forthcoming flight to the Philippines to meet with military representatives for General Douglas MacArthur. The Japanese delegation then boarded the C-54 for the trip to Manila, there to receive the terms for Allied occupation of the Japanese homeland and formal Japanese surrender. The crew of the two Bettys were detained overnight on Ie Shima until the surrender delegation returned from Manila the following day.

Interestingly, in the images from the Combat Air Museum, there is a pic at the very bottom of the first column which is similar to the 6th image I posted.






Underneath Japan Surrenders it says Okinawa 1945




My grandfather, Vincent Viglione, in the middle.


Here is the pic mentioned above from Combat Air Museum
“We don't have a government of the people, by the people, for the people. We have government of the people, by the bureaucrats, for the bureaucrats.”

-Milton Friedman
Chipotlemonger
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AG
Neat, thanks for sharing
JABQ04
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AG
Those are very cool.
Ghost of Andrew Eaton
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Very cool.
BigJim49 AustinNowDallas
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AG
Friend Elmo Ellis 18 from Austin KIA on Ie Shima !
pilgrim82
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AG
Famous war reporter Ernie Pyle was also killed on Ie Shima by Japanese machine gun fire.
Cinco Ranch Aggie
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AG
Those are great photos. Thank you for sharing.
DustysLineup
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AG
Outstanding; thanks for sharing. For some reason, personal handheld camera shots like that always seem a little more "real" to me than formal press photos. I think Aggie1944's photo thread on the zoo was what got me to sign up for Texags again after a hiatus.
Jaydoug
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AG
Excellent. Thanks for those. That's important documented history.
aalan94
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AG
I've seen these before. I think the planes were painted white with green crosses, if I remember correctly. It was specifically to make them look like nothing either side was flying at the time.
Rabid Cougar
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AG
Escorted to Ie Shima by 6 B-25Js of the 345th Bomb Group and 12 P-38's



345th Escorting White Bettys.
Rabid Cougar
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AG
Green Cross to Bear
BQ78
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AG
I don't know about those markings if I were to have seen one in the wild, I'd of gone "What are the Krauts doing here!"
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