Known as the bloodiest conflict in human history and the first true total war, the Second World War was waged in two continents and vast swathes of sea. It began earlier in Europe. From the Philippines, we’ve heard of the German encroachment, the Kristallnacht, the racism and the hatred of Nazism. By then we had begun opening doors for droves of Jewish refugees. We thought that war was too far from us. We were utterly mistaken.

Our place in the map, right smack in the middle of Southeast Asia, put us in a dangerous situation. By 1939, the Japanese encroachment in Asia got nearer and nearer our shores as our leaders got anxious. China fell. Indochina came next. And then Taiwan. Most of the government personnel knew we were not prepared if a conflict ever broke out. Diplomatic channels between Japan and the United States had ceased by 1941. A majority of Filipinos in the country was still hopeful, even optimistic that the country, aided by the United States, would win.

The Second World War finally came in the Pacific on December 8, 1941, 2:30 am Philippine local time when the Japanese sent a surprise aerial attack on Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii, effectively crushing the USAFFE fleet on the harbor and cutting off reinforcements to the Philippines. As the Japanese landed on our shores in Aparri, many civilians ran to the provinces, leaving their homes in the city. But with the little that we have left, the poor weapons that we have, many Filipinos and Americans were drafted into military service and stood side by side as the Japanese advanced at Bataan. Gunfire could be heard even from Manila. And when Bataan fell, and Corregidor fell in April and May 1942, we realized that there was no escaping this ordeal. Thus began a dark time, of an occupation by another invader whose language and customs were incomprehensible to us.  

More than two years have passed. Destruction was quick and relentless. The loss and the grief we felt as a people were unbearable, as testified by the many accounts from diaries of those who lived through the time. As the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines drew to a close, we became too familiar with the intensity of our situation. We were left with a capital city in rubbles, and the deafening silence of homes that used to be full of life. As the Japanese retreated northward, Filipinos began the painstaking work of rebuilding, polarized by the thought of some of our fellowmen who were willing collaborators for the occupiers. Not only buildings were destroyed, but lives as well. And we knew that this historic period in our country would change an entire generation of our countrymen forever.

On August 15, 1945, for the first time, the Japanese Emperor was heard on radio, finally accepting the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, the Allied forces’ ultimatum for Japan’s surrender. As one of the countries who succumbed to Japanese might, we rejoiced of the end of conflict. 

On the morning of September 2, 1945, more than 40 American warships entered Tokyo Bay unhindered. On the USS Missouri, a desk was laid on deck where the Instrument of Surrender was laid, to be signed by the Japanese leaders and the Allied representatives. Worth mentioning also was the American flag on display on the Missouri, the same flag that Commodore Matthew Perry flew on the mast of his ship in 1854 when he forced Japan to open its doors for trade. Full of symbolism, of the Western excesses and the subsequent reaction of Japan against it, the ceremony of Japan’s surrender offered the world a balanced and nuanced view, that all the players who were involved in this “war to end all wars” were all responsible for the grief that engulfed nations in Asia and the West. 

The ceremony of surrender was solemn. An American journalist describes the scene:

“The next moment of emotional impact was the arrival of the Japanese delegation—four in civilian dress, seven wearing navy or army uniforms. They stood waiting MacArthur’s pleasure like stone gargoyles… Their stolid features showed neither guilt nor regret, pain nor resentment—only an abiding watchful animal-like patience. You felt that only time would reveal what that patience stood for… Next highlight was when MacArthur began signing the surrender document. He turned to General [Jonathan] Wainwright, with a warm smile and handed him the first of the six pens he used. Then he looked deliberately, steadily and coldly at the Japanese before going on with the signing. That gesture was for Bataan, for Corregidor—and the Japanese caught its significance fully.”

At 9:04 am, Japanese local time, the Japanese delegation led by Japan’s foreign minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and General Yoshijiro Umezu, signed the Instrument of Surrender. He was thereafter followed by the signing of the representatives from the United States (Admiral Chester Nimitz), the Republic of China, the United Kingdom, the USSR, Australia, Canada, France, Netherlands and New Zealand.

The article continued describing the event:

“The Allied signatories signed quickly, one after the other. ‘Let us pray,’ said MacArthur, ‘that the peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always. These proceedings are closed.’

Next came the spine-tingling climax Forty-six great-winged Superfortresses swept over the fleet like high, graceful birds. Up and behind them roared the Third Fleet’s fighters, dive bombers and torpedo planes. They flew over the massed decks of the Missouri in wave after wave after wave, until the whole bay throbbed. The battleship almost seemed to rock with the sound of their passing. There never was a more stirring flight and it shook the hearts of the sailors and the soldiers… It gripped everybody. You felt suddenly that the ink on the documents, lying momentarily forgotten on the table, meant nothing. And that the men who had signed were no more than symbols.”

In the Philippines, President Sergio Osmeña declared September 2 as V-J Day, or Victory over Japan Day, saying “Today is a day of thanksgiving in the flush of victory.” Before the day was over, on the mountains of the Cordilleras, General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the highest ranking leader of the Japanese command in the country sent word to Filipino and American forces in Baguio that he and his remnant forces were ready to surrender.

Finally, the long night was ended.

Today, as we look to this event 70 years ago, may we never cease to remember the fallen, and the strength we mustered to rise up from the rubble to claim the freedom that is ours.

Photos belong to their respective owners.

(1) Japanese Foreign Minister Shigemitsu signed the Instrument of Surrender.

(2) The Japanese delegation arrives on board the USS MIssouri, before the signing of surrender.

(3) General Douglas MacArthur as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers delivered a speech concluding the ceremony. On his back was displayed a framed 1854 American flag of Commodore Matthew Perry.

(4) F4U Corsair and F6F Hellcat fighter planes fly in formation over the USS Missouri after the ceremony of surrender, marking the formal end of the Second World War in the Pacific.