As Jack Ford sat down to read his morning paper Wednesday he was shocked to see that there was no mention that it was Victory over Japan Day (VJ-Day).
That was disappointing, said Ford, 93.
VJ-Day commemorates the day Japan surrendered to the Allies and the Second World War effectively ended.
Ford said he’s not angry — disappointed is more like it — but he does wonder if Wednesday’s omission might be an indication of things to come.
The people who experienced the war first hand are getting older, he said. Someday important days like that one might fade from memory. That’s a dangerous mistake for the world to make, said Ford.
“You soon forget, and if you forget, everything is lost.
“If you forget, it could happen again — and who in the name of goodness wants to be involved in anything like that again?” he said.
“I care because I should care. It’s a situation I went through for 3 1/2 years,” he added.
Ford spent most of the war as a prisoner of war in a Japanese camp.
As a young man, Ford signed up for the Royal Air Force and was stationed in Singapore when it fell to Japan.
He was held for a time in the camp in Nagasaki, not far from where the United States dropped one of its atomic bombs.
Japan’s surrender was announced on Aug. 15, 1945. The country officially signed the declaration of surrender on Sept. 2, which is when the United States commemorates the war as ending.
Ford said he and the rest of his camp didn’t find out about the surrender until several days after it happened. They’d known something was up but none of their guards would tell them anything.
Then one day, an American B-52 bomber flew at low altitude over the camp. The prisoners got their blankets together and spelled out the word “news,” as a way of getting the pilot’s attention.
The bomber crew put together their rations and a short message and dropped it into the camp.
Ford said that’s how he found out the war was over. The next day it was officially announced.
“Basically what this day means to me ... here I am, 67 years ago today, and I remember that just as plain as if it happened this morning,” said Ford.
- Read more special articles :
- - Time doesn't heal
- - 'It was hell, simply hell'
- - Collection of Remembrance Day stories
- - Collection of Remembrance Day archive stories 2
That day should never be forgotten, he insists.
“Aug. 15 should be remembered as the day the war came to an end and the world rejoiced in the fact that the war was over. And if they are forgetting — then they weren’t very happy about it,” he said.
The anniversary did seem to pass with little more than a whisper in most media outlets.
The Canadian Press, the national news service that feeds news to hundreds of publications across the country, ran only one story on the anniversary on Wednesday.
Its content mostly used the date as a backdrop to highlight current military heightened tensions in the seas around Japan.
A quick Google news search of “V-J Day” results in a number of story results, but very few of them are from Canada.
Steven Blaney, minister of Veterans Affairs, issued a short news release commemorating the anniversary, but it was largely ignored by the media.
“Today (Tuesday) we extend our heartfelt thanks to our Canadian troops for their service in the Far East under difficult circumstances and demonstrating extraordinary courage and determination,” wrote Blaney.
“It is important to commemorate the heroic sacrifices of our veterans. Their contribution has made our country what it is today. Neither time nor distance will lessen our remembrance.”
Ford hopes that last sentence is true — it certainly is for him.
“How can I, after praying day after day after day for the war to come to an end — and my prayers were answered if I may say that — how can I forget the torment and the massacres that went on there?” he asked.
More than 10,000 Canadians took part in the war in Asia, including more than 2,000 who reinforced Hong Kong in 1941.
Many Newfoundlanders joined the war effort through the various branches of Britain’s armed forces and merchant marine.
cmaclean@thetelegram.com
Twitter: @TelegramMacLean
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
