V-J Day: August 15, 1945. Victory over Japan and the 75th Anniversary of the End of World War II.

Hello, this is Peter, one of the adult reference librarians. My family spent July of 1972 in the state of Washington visiting my older brother, stationed at McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma. At one point, we traveled to Seattle and made a side trip to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton to visit the USS Missouri, deactivated and moored there as a tourist attraction (see the above photo) from the end of the Korean War until she was recommissioned in the mid-1980’s for a few years before being deactivated again and returned to Bremerton and then moved permanently to Pearl Harbor to represent the end of the war at the site where it began for the United States. For it was on this battleship, the “Mighty Mo”, that Japan surrendered unconditionally to the Allied Powers on September 2, 1945 in Tokyo Bay, officially ending the Second World War. It was a thrill for us to see the bronze plaque installed shortly after at the exact spot on the deck where the surrender was signed.

V-J Day, August 15, 1945, the day Japan’s surrender was announced, is best remembered for the wild celebrations that took place all over the country, but especially in New York City’s Times Square. It came just over three months after V-E Day, May 8, 1945, on which victory over the Axis powers in Europe was announced. A number of books and other materials are available through the library that focus on the final stages of the war in the European and Pacific theaters as well as the immediate aftermath. The following items are especially recommended & may be checked out directly or reserved either online or by calling the reference desk during business hours.

Atomic Tragedy: Henry L. Stimson and the Decision to Use the Bomb Against Japan by Sean Langdon Malloy. https://search.livebrary.com/search/?searchtype=t&SORT=D&searcharg=atomic+tragedy&searchscope=35

1944: FDR and the Year that Changed History by Jay Winik https://search.livebrary.com/search~S35?/tfdr+and+the+year/tfdr+and+the+year/1%2C1%2C2%2CB/frameset&FF=tfdr+and+the+year+that+changed+history&1%2C%2C2/indexsort=-

The Americans at Normandy: The Summer of 1944 — The American War from the Normandy Beaches to Falaise by John C. McManus https://search.livebrary.com/search~S35/?searchtype=t&searcharg=the+americans+at+normandy&searchscope=35&sortdropdown=-&SORT=D&extended=0&SUBMIT=Search&searchlimits=&searchorigarg=tfdr+and+the+year

The Generals: Patton, MacArthur, Marshall and the Winning of World War II, by Winston Groom. https://search.livebrary.com/search~S35?/tgenerals/tgenerals/1%2C9%2C15%2CB/frameset&FF=tgenerals+patton+macarthur+marshall+and+the+winning+of+world+war+ii&1%2C%2C3/indexsort=-

Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan by Bill O’Reilly https://search.livebrary.com/search~S35?/tkilling+the+rising+sun/tkilling+the+rising+sun/1%2C1%2C4%2CB/frameset&FF=tkilling+the+rising+sun+how+america+vanquished+world+war+ii+japan&1%2C%2C4/indexsort=-

Landing on the Edge of Eternity: Twenty-four Hours at Omaha Beach by Robert J. Kershaw https://search.livebrary.com/search~S35?/tkilling+the+rising+sun/tkilling+the+rising+sun/1%2C1%2C4%2CB/frameset&FF=tkilling+the+rising+sun+how+america+vanquished+world+war+ii+japan&1%2C%2C4/indexsort=-

War and Peace: FDR’s Final Odyssey, D-Day to Yalta, 1943-1945 by Nigel Hamilton https://search.livebrary.com/search~S35?/twar+and+peace+frd/twar+and+peace+frd/-3%2C0%2C0%2CB/frameset&FF=twar+and+peace+fdrs+final+odyssey+d+day+to+yalta+++++1943+++++1945&1%2C%2C2/indexsort=-

The Kissing Sailor: The Mystery Behind the Photo the Ended World War II by Lawrende Verria and George Galdorisi https://search.livebrary.com/search~S35/?searchtype=t&searcharg=kissing+sailor&searchscope=35&sortdropdown=-&SORT=D&extended=0&SUBMIT=Search&searchlimits=&searchorigarg=dV-J+Day%2C+1945

Hiroshima: Why America Dropped the Atomic Bomb by Ronald T. Takaki https://search.livebrary.com/search~S35?/thiroshima+why/thiroshima+why/1%2C2%2C2%2CB/frameset&FF=thiroshima+why+america+dropped+the+atomic+bomb&1%2C1%2C/indexsort=-

DVD – “USS Arizona to USS Missouri: From Tragedy to Victory”. https://search.livebrary.com/search~S35?/dV-J+Day%2C+1945/dv+j+day+++++1945/1%2C2%2C2%2CB/frameset&FF=dv+j+day+++++1945&1%2C1%2C

DVD – “Hiroshima: Why the Bomb Was Dropped” https://search.livebrary.com/search~S35?/thiroshima+why/thiroshima+why/1%2C2%2C2%2CB/frameset&FF=thiroshima+why+the+bomb+was+dropped&1%2C1%2C/indexsort=-

The following highlighted link will bring you to the page containing downloads of e-books and e-audio-books from the Library’s Kanopy digital service. Clicking on the link will let you immediately download the selection, which will be automatically returned after the loan period ends:

Closing With the Enemy: How GI’s fought the War in Europe, 1944 by Michael Dale Doubler https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/10757221 (e-book)

The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team that Helped Win World War II by Anne R. Keene https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/12356292 (e-book) https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/12264847 (e-audiobook)

Eagle Against the Sun: The American War with Japan by Ronald H. Spector https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/12373059 (e-audiobook)

To sign up for a Kanopy account through the Library, you will need to enter the email and password connected to your library card, select your home library of Lindenhurst from a drop-down list, and enter your library card barcode. Click here for your library account.  For any other issues that arise, please email the Library at info@lindenhurstlibrary.org for help or call the Reference desk during business hours.