SEMO historian marks 75th anniversary of World War II's end

The formal end of World War II 75 years ago Wednesday helped to cement in American minds the “MacArthur myth,” so says Adam Criblez, a Southeast Missouri State University historian.

The 23-minute surrender ceremony aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay featured various signatories of all the nations involved in the global conflagration — a conflict ended by a pair of atomic bombs dropped on Japan in August 1945.

Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur — who would later be fired by Missouri’s only occupant of the White House, Harry Truman — gave the opening address of the brief occasion and acted as master of ceremonies, inviting various world dignitaries to sign the “instrument of surrender.”

MacArthur, said Criblez, emerged after the Sept. 2, 1945, signing as “first among equals” among U.S. military figures of the era.

“Before Tokyo Bay, Americans might have put (future U.S. president Dwight) Eisenhower at the same level as MacArthur or even with (Naval Fleet Admiral Chester) Nimitz,” Criblez said.

Criblez, who has taught at Southeast eight years, is author of a historical work about the National Basketball Association in the 1970s called “Tall Tales and Short Shorts: Dr. J., Pistol Pete and the Birth of the Modern NBA.”

“We tend to see WWII as the last ‘good war,’” Criblez said, “with clear villains and heroes.”

The public’s tendency to accept a “rose-colored version” of history is seen, he suggested, most strikingly with sports figures.

For example, Criblez said the late Mickey Mantle’s accomplishments as a New York Yankees outfielder should be tempered by the fact the so-called “Commerce Comet” was such a serious alcoholic the first-ballot Hall of Famer needed a liver transplant to survive.

MacArthur was aided by a similar celebrity myth, with Criblez acknowledging that while the five-star general’s towering post-war status as Allied governor of conquered Japan is highly laudable, the less flattering details of the legendary warrior’s life should also be weighed.

Some soldiers of the era called MacArthur “Dugout Doug,” an allegation the wartime leader was “an armchair general” who painstakingly ensured his personal safety during World War II.

“We often don’t hear about the downside of our heroes until later, often until much later,” Criblez said.

“There’s little doubt, though, that [MacArthur] is a larger-than-life figure who played an enormous role in Japanese rehabilitation and restoration,” he added.

Criblez had praise for the long-ago ceremony Sept. 2, suggesting it helped to avoid the messy conclusion of its predecessor, World War I, after which heavy reparations and harsh treatment were levied on the conquered.

“Although xenophobia existed in parts of the U.S. with Japanese internment camps (during World War II),” Criblez said, “the surrender ceremony attempted a display of unity, consensus-building and fostered a sense of patriotism and respect.”

In what has become a footnote to the last world war, Criblez recalled there were a few for whom the formal cessation of hostilities was not effectively communicated.

Criblez said reports of some Japanese soldiers, not many, who fought on into the 1960s and even the 1970s, who either ignored or did not get word of what happened on the teak decks of an American battleship three quarters of a century ago this week.

“There were Japanese holdouts, yes,” Criblez said. “Their devotion is not surprising.”

The USS Missouri, called “Mighty Mo” or “Big Mo” during its days in service during World War II, the Korean War and the first Persian Gulf War, has been a museum ship since 1998 and is docked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.