Ceremony Marks V-J Day
Four Americans who served in the armed forces in the final days of the Second World War helped commemorate the 50th anniversary of its end Friday at Fairchild Air Force Base.
The four celebrated America’s resolve to win a difficult war, and saluted then-President Harry Truman for ordering the use of nuclear bombs on two Japanese cities.
“To hear the revisionists say we shouldn’t have used the bombs, well, that gets me mad,” said Bud Kirchoff, a former Army staff sergeant who served in the Philippines.
Kirchoff and two other speakers, all from the Spokane area, said they, as prisoners of war, would have likely died if the bombs hadn’t ended the war.
The other two former POWs, Jack Donohoe of the Army Air Corp and former Marine Sgt. Shirk Jansen, insisted the use of atomic weapons saved many lives.
“God bless Harry Truman,” Jansen concluded. “It was well known that if our guys invaded, we would have the been the first people killed.”
Commemorations of V-J Day, Sept. 2, are occurring throughout the nation this weekend. Most of them recognize World War II as America’s test of fire, a “good war” that forged unprecedented patriotism and pride. About 80 guests and retired military members attended the event. The ceremony ended with the laying of a wreath at the base of the main flagpole to honor those who took part in the war.
Also speaking at Fairchild’s ceremony was Spokane resident Myrtle Hagan Talbot. Talbot served as an Army captain in the Pacific on the hospital ship Mercy.
“We cared for 700 patients aboard the Mercy, with three operating rooms and three tables in each,” Talbot said. She was one of 37 nurses who with a dozen doctors tended victims of battles from the Philippines to Okinawa.
In the final two years of the war, Talbot received seven battle stars, some earned for bravery during heavy kamikaze attacks on the invasion fleet that included the Mercy.
“I feel humble next to these men,” she said. “They were POWS, while I had pretty good duty on that hospital ship.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo