On the edge of history

On Sept. 2, 1945, Fletcher Chasteen was a teenager, sitting in a 40 millimeter anti-aircraft gun turret atop the USS Missouri in the middle of Tokyo Bay. But, for the first time in 13 months, he was not there to pull the trigger. He was there to get a good view of the peace being made on the deck below.

The eyes, ears and hearts of the world were fixed on Chasteen's position that day, as Japanese dignitaries signed the formal instruments of peace, at last ending five years of World War II. Just short of 59 years later, Chasteen was again called to a place of national significance to celebrate the photograph that has preserved that moment for generations.

Chasteen was among the few surviving sailors from the USS Missouri invited by the Associated Press to participate in a tribute exhibit of 100 wartime photos entitled: "Memories of World War II: Photographs from the Archives of the Associated Press. The Memorial Day lead-up event was held on May 27 at Union Station in Washington, D.C.

The photo of particular interest to Chasteen and his shipmates was a black and white image of the signing of the peace accords taken by retired AP photographer Max Desfor. They were all presented with an enlarged copy of the snapshot, signed by the photographer.

The photograph shows the Japanese delegation huddled amid a swarm of Allied servicemen on the deck of the Missouri. The Japanese solemnly face the camera, Allied officials and the accords on a table. At the top of the photo, the towering barrels of five guns stand erect and at the ready.

"They were aimed for Tokyo," Chasteen said, pointing at his copy of the photo, which he displayed in the library of his current home, Chateau Girardeau in Cape Girardeau. "You can't see it in the photo, but the bay was full of ships and the air was full of planes. If anything went the least bit wrong, I'm afraid Tokyo would have been destroyed."

He then looked back at the photo and pointed above the guns.

"This is where I was," he said smiling, waving a finger in the air above the photo where he would be pictured if the camera's lens had been just a bit wider.

"At the time, it didn't have as much significance to me," Chasteen confessed of the peace signing he witnessed. "It just meant that I was going home."

trehagen@semissourian.com

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