75th Anniversary of the End of World War II

September 2, 2020

The United States enter the Second World War when Japan attached Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. On August 15, 1945, Japan surrendered, with the surrender documents finally signed at Tokyo Bay on the deck of the American battleship USS Missouri on September 2, 1945, officially ending the war. During World War II the United States suffered 407,316 killed or missing in action (MIA) and 671, 846 wounded.

Presented above are members of the Brazos Valley Marine Corps League attending the ceremony commemorating the end of World War II. The ceremony was held at the World War II Memorial in Veterans Park, College Station.

BVMCL Chaplain, Al Diaz, gave the opening prayer. Then Commandant Benito Vallejo of the Brazos Valley Marine Corps League, who organized the event, welcomed the attendees to the 75th Anniversary of the End of World War II Celebration. T.J. Robie, representing the Submariners League, presented a wreath provided by Wreaths Across America, honoring the 75th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
After the American Legion Commander Tom Marty recognized Frank J Kocman Jr., who is a World War II veteran, Glenn Saunders of the BVMCL described the Japanese surrender ceremony on the Battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. Gerry Hince, representing Vietnam Veterans Chapter 937, provided the World War II Remembrance Presentation.
Frank J. Kocman Jr. served in World War II from 1944 to 1946. Frank is standing next to the statue celebrating the receipt of a letter from home by a soldier on the front. The wreath commemorating the end of World War II was placed next to the statue of Rosie the Riveter, which commemorates the civilian contribution to the war effort.