"War ends"
That was the simple and direct 5-inch-tall headline that covered almost a third of the page in the Deseret News on Aug. 14, 1945 — 65 years ago this Saturday.
The V-J Day (victory over Japan) story read: "President Truman announced today that fighting in the Second World War has ended."
The Deseret News archives contain a wealth of photographs from World War II to its end. There's the terrifying picture showing the USS Arizona surrounded by black smoke as it topples during the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Still another photo shows Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur and soldiers walking through the surf to the shore of the Philippines on Oct. 20, 1944, to begin the Leyte invasion — 2 1/2 years after he fled that area to Australia to fight another day.
Another picture highlights the USS Pennsylvania battleship leading the preliminary charge in the Philippines in 1944.
There are also photos of Marines storming Iwo Jima in February 1945 and of the ground crew of the Enola Gay, which dropped the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945.
The historic announcement of the war's end created a series of joyous gatherings, the likes of which has not been seen since. One photograph from Paris shows hundreds of U.S. soldiers and the Women's Army Corps gathering to celebrate the war's end on Aug. 14, 1945.
Salt Lake City had its own celebrations.
Utah Gov. Herbert B. Maw issued a quick proclamation that urged all places of employment, except restaurants, to close in Utah on Aug. 15, 1945.
"All retail stores will be closed the remainder of today and all day tomorrow," a Deseret News story proclaimed. Banks and government offices closed. Restaurants and movie theaters remained open, however.
Main Street from South Temple to 300 South was closed to traffic for two days to accommodate celebrations, including a street dance, orchestra and a military band.
Many Salt Lake area churches held special services. Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, the First Methodist Church, St. Peter's Episcopal Church and the St. Mark's Hospital Chapel were a sampling of churches holding special V-J Day services.
A special religious service for the entire community was held the day after V-J Day in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performing.
Stores in Sugar House closed, and a dance was held in the plaza there.
Especially happy at the news that the war had finally ended was Mrs. William W. Hardy, of Salt Lake City, who had four sons, plus a son-in-law, serving in the military then.
"We feel blessed that the boys will be home soon," Hardy told the Deseret News.
"Entire nation celebrates on hearing news," was another headline in the paper.
Despite initial plans for just a two-day celebration, Salt Lake City V-J Day festivities actually ended up being a three-day affair.
Only after the three days did the shouting stop, was paper able to be swept off the streets and were businesses able to return to normal operations.
"There could not have been a more joyous or a better behaved crowd than the 50,000 who thronged Main and adjacent streets," Salt Lake City Major Earl J. Glade told the Deseret News of the three uplifting days of celebration. "There was not a single untoward incident. … There was no vandalism."
All Salt Lake City police officers, scheduled to work or not, had been called to their assigned duties just in case.
BYU students lighted a huge "V" on the upper portion of the letter "Y" on the mountainside above the school.
All businesses in Provo closed, too, except a few grocery stores, and even a heavy downpour at 7 p.m. on Aug. 15 failed to dampen the enthusiasm of people at Pioneer Park, who participated in a torchlight parade down Center Street.
An interfaith V-J Day mass meeting was held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Sept. 4, 1945, to give thanks for peace with the war's end.
Many U.S. celebrations had been tainted slightly by a "false start" a day earlier, when radio announcers had erroneously declared that the war was over. Horns sounded and telephone lines were swamped immediately in Salt Lake. But radio announcers came back on soon after with a message: "The war goes on. The flash was false. No word has been received."
Photo researcher Ron Fox has assembled many photos of World War II that can be seen in full online at deseretnews.com.
e-mail: lynn@desnews.com