Representatives of the Empire of Japan stand aboard USS Missouri prior to signing of the Instrument of Surrender.
By Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ)
Today, September 2, 2020, marks the 75th anniversary of the
end of World War II and the day Imperial Japan signed the Instrument
of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
The war that began for the Unites
States with the bloody and unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7,
1941 ended on September 2, 1945 with unconditional surrender bringing to a
close a war that Americans fought on two fronts where over 400,000 Americans
sacrificed their lives for freedom and democracy.
Walter Pruiksma, center, wearing his Silver Marechausee Medal, Major Gen. Phillip Churn, Sr., left and Congressman Chris Smith, right, Oct 13, 2018, Manasquan Presbyterian Church. -photo by Art Gallagher
Walter “Rookie” Pruiksma, 95 of Brick, was presented with the Silver Marechausse Award for his heroic actions as a Military Police Officer in France and Belgium during World War II, during a moving ceremony at his church, Manasquan Presbyterian on Saturday afternoon October 13.
Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ4) presented U.S. Navy veteran Bill Kelly with a U.S. Flag which had flown over the Capitol during a celebration of the WWII hero’s 93rd birthday earlier this week at the Claremont Center in Pt. Pleasant.
Kelly served on the U.S.S. Laffey during World War Two. He was awarded the Purple Heart Medal for wounds he received in battle on board the ship on April 16, 1945, when the Laffey endured a large-scale kamikaze air attack by Japanese planes. Read the rest of this entry »
Al Salazar, 93 of Wall Township, was 20 years old when he served under both General Omar Bradley and Lt. General George Patton in World War II. He landed in Europe 73 years ago last week.
Congressman Chris Smith joined Salazar’s family in honoring his service by presenting him the medals he earned, but had not received, during a ceremony at the Xanadu senior condominium club house in Wall Township.
Bob Williams, grandson of Alfred Caponigro, Caponigro and Congressman Chris Smith
OCEAN TOWNSHIP, N.J. – Alfred Caponigro of Ocean Township would not accept the medals he earned in combat during World War II because of all of the other Americans who didn’t make it back, or who lost limbs and other injuries. Caponigro lost his hearing in the war and was discharged with a 100 percent disability rating by the Navy.
On Tuesday Caponigro, 90, joined by his family and friends, accepted his medals from Congressman Chris Smith, 73 years after he earned them.
Seventy-five years after the American isolationists was defeated by Franklin Roosevelt, their ideas are being quietly and carefully promoted again by libertarian Republicans like Rand Paul. In this extract from his new book, The Sphinx: Franklin Roosevelt, the Isolationists and the Road to World War II, Nicholas Wapshott explains the dilemma the president faced as the… Read the rest of this entry »
