Today, May 8, marks the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe ending that portion of World War II.

President Harry S. Truman and Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain both issued proclamations officially ending the war in Europe. The Soviet Union proclaimed VE Day the next day, May 9, 1945.

With Adolf Hitler committing suicide on April 30, 1945, his successor, Reichspräsident Karl Dönitz, authorized the unconditional surrender of Germany. The military surrender happened on May 7 at Allied headquarters at 2:42 p.m. at Reims, France.

There was wild celebration throughout much of Europe, particularly in London where King George VI and Prime Minister Churchill waved to huge crowds gathering throughout the city.

There was also a celebration in the United States, but it was more muted with major fighting going on in the Pacific and no end in sight.

President Truman, whose 61st birthday was also on May 8, dedicated the victory to the memory to the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died on April 12, 1945. The nation was still in official mourning for Roosevelt with flags flying at half staff throughout the nation.

The nation was also in mourning for the hundreds of thousands of American boys who had already been killed in the war. It was reported at that time that between D-Day, June 6, 1944, and VE Day, May 8, 1945, U.S. forces suffered some 700,000 casualties, including 132,000 killed in action, in Europe alone.

Imperial Japan had doubled down on its resistance and its forces were fighting more fanatically than ever, with massed suicide attacks on American forces in Okinawa and the Philippines.

Southwest Louisiana’s reaction to VE Day was particularly muted. Church bells rang and some people went to church to pray for their loved ones, both those who had died and those still in harm’s way.

Calcasieu and Lake Charles officials didn’t feel it was a time for jubilation and refused to issue any official proclamations. In fact, the mayor of Lake Charles banned all sales of liquor and put law enforcement on alert in case of any civil disturbances.

The atomic bomb was still a top-secret and what its impact would be still speculative. The U.S. was planning to invade Japan. The invasion was called Operation Olympic and was scheduled for November 1945.

Fortunately, it never happened. Remember who those who both lived and died during World War II, and appreciate your dearly bought freedom.VE Day 1945