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After the atomic bombs were dropped, the war ended and we went into Tokyo Bay with the rest of the fleet, the Missouri and the rest of them, while they signed the terms of surrender that ended the war.

Significant anniversaries are solemnly commemorated - Japan's attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, for example.

The Japanese scored an important victory at Pearl Harbor, but the attack pulled the United States into World War II, and four years later, Japan was in ruins, utterly defeated.

It was necessary to bluff the Japanese camp commanders, with whatever authority I could muster, that I had come officially to ensure that the surrender terms were being complied with and that living conditions for the POWs were being immediately improved.

I think that this is the first war in history that on the morrow the victors sued for peace and the vanquished called for unconditional surrender.

World War II was a decisive time in our history and June 6, 1944, marked the decisive moment of the war.

If Japan had been near to either England or France, war would have broken out long ago.

The Japanese chose the principle of eternal peace as the basis of morality for our rebirth after the War.

As to the war with Japan, the President had already received my memorandum in general as to the possibility of getting a substantial unconditional surrender from Japan which I had written before leaving Washington and which he had approved.

Veterans Day is an acknowledgment that those willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for our country - and their families - deserve our admiration and respect today and every day.