Navy veteran, Ron Vickress recalls witnessing the surrender in Tokyo that officially ended World War II.
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Mr Vickress, who joined the Navy in 1943, reminisced about the famous moment while at a Remembrance Day service in Guyra.
“We were only about half a mile away from the Missouri, where the surrender was signed, so we could see it through our binoculars,” Mr Vickress said.
“The day after we got a signal to say the first Australian prisoners of war were going home on an aircraft carrier and they came alongside us and we sang Waltzing Matilda.
“There were tears on both decks I think.
“Years later I found out that sailors on the Perth that were sunk at the end of 1942 in Java, were on this [ship] … it was the first time they’d seen an Australian flag in three years.
“Then we were sent to Hong Kong and after that we were sent home.”
Mr Vickress, who has lived most of his life in the New England, is now an author and treasurer of the Guyra RSL Sub Branch.
