CAPE HENLOPEN STATE PARK, Del. — Eighty-one years after Japan formally surrendered aboard the USS Missouri, veterans, families and community members gathered at Fort Miles on Wednesday to remember the end of World War II and the Delawareans who never returned home.
The annual Victory over Japan Day ceremony at Cape Henlopen State Park commemorates the formal surrender of Japan on Sept. 2, 1945, which brought World War II to an end.
Among those attending was 102-year-old World War II veteran George McCarthy, who was serving with the U.S. Army Air Corps in Kunming, China, when the war ended.
“We all anticipated that, wait, wait, wait, wait, it’s going to be here,” McCarthy said. “And it happened, and everybody’s going to go home.”
McCarthy was drafted in February 1943 and eventually sent overseas to China. He worked in the supply chain as equipment and other materials were flown from India across the Himalayas into China.
Despite Japan’s surrender, McCarthy did not immediately return to the United States. He remained in China to help close American bases before eventually making the trip home.
“When I was in China, I thought we’d never go home, you know?” McCarthy said.
A piece of the history McCarthy remembers is now on display at Fort Miles. One of the gun barrels from the USS Missouri stands at the historic military site. The gun was aboard the battleship in Tokyo Bay when representatives of Japan signed the formal surrender documents 81 years ago.
While the ceremony remembers the Allied victory, organizers also use it to honor the 774 Delawareans who died during World War II.Â
For another World War II veteran attending Wednesday’s ceremony, Gunner’s Mate First Class Raymond Sproul, the reading of the names and the playing of taps brought back memories of those he lost.
“When they played taps, I cried, because I’ve lost some boys over there,” Sproul said. “And you never forget them. You never, never forget them.”
Sproul said he was 16 when he learned of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor while sitting inside a Baltimore movie theater. He immediately went to a recruiting office and tried to join the Navy, but was told he would have to wait until he turned 17.
Sproul reported for duty on his 17th birthday and later served aboard a subchaser conducting anti-submarine patrols in the Atlantic. He said his crew escorted merchant ships and used depth charges while searching for German U-boats.
Decades later, Sproul said Delaware has become home. He moved from Baltimore to the state in 1968 and credited fellow veterans, his neighbors and the VA facility in Georgetown with making Sussex County a welcoming place.
“The wisest thing I ever did in my life was move to Delaware,” Sproul said. “These people have been wonderful.”
For McCarthy, returning to Fort Miles each year carries particular meaning as the number of surviving World War II veterans continues to decline.
“Today I’m more fortunate than ever that I’m still here talking to you,” McCarthy said.
The ceremony serves as both a commemoration of the day World War II formally ended and a reminder of the Delaware service members who did not live to see the victory they helped make possible.
