Seventy years ago, on 14 August 1945, the Japanese surrendered--VJ Day--ending WWII in the Pacific. Yvonne and Vince had taken the train from Madison, WI, after their marriage in April, to California. Yvonne wrote this letter to Grandma-the-Great.
August 16, 1945
Dear Mom,
Well, it's finally over. I was making dinner when it was announced over the radio. No one else was home - so there was no shouting, all I did was sit down and cry. Vince had duty that night so when he didn't come home I didn't expect to see him until the next night. But I went down town yesterday morning and when I was mailing some letters, I saw him standing on the corner waiting for a bus. Everything was closed up so we came home. After Vince ate he went to bed, as he had been up most of the night. We had an early dinner last night and went to a movie. There were only 3 or 4 restaurants open and there were lines of people waiting to get into every one. The streets are a mess of paper. There were piles and piles of milk cartons - guess that was about all people could get for food.
Vince is supposed to have 3 nights off and one on, but it was just announced that all sailors are to return to their ships or base (within 100 miles from Frisco). I guess there was really lots of damage done there - thousands and thousands of dollars worth of goods stolen or destroyed. The paper said every window within a three block area was broken. I didn't get to see any celebrations at all but there were lots of accidents so maybe it was just as well.
I sure hope they don't keep Vince in for three or four days. I had a telephone number I was going to give him so he could call if anything like this happened, but I forgot about it this morn before he left, so know I just have to wait until he comes home.
He said his ship is going to be finished so he'll probably ship out in a few months. I'm sending my ticket home, so you can get the refund. All you have to do is take it to the station, I believe. If you need anything in my writing to say it's OK - This letter should be enough. You can send the money with my next allotment check.
Well that's about all that's new for now. We didn't have any mail delivery yesterday or today so I should have a letter by tomorrow.
Love,
Yvonne
Dad did not ship out. He was discharged a few weeks after this letter was written.
