When I was growing up, my siblings and I were told the story about my grandfather, Chester Franklin Lentz of being onboard the ship, the USS Missouri. That ship was the setting of the formal surrender and the signing of the surrender of Japan to the allies on 2 September, 1945.  Recently, I decided to delve more into the facts and records of this event and see how my grandfather may have played a part in it and to see if he was actually there and verify the family story.

I spoke with my mother first to get a firsthand account of what her father may have told her.  She said that she was told by him that he and some other marines from the ship he was on, the USS Briscoe were called to be escorted over to the USS Missouri to witness the signing of the surrender.  They were told this was to ensure that all branches of the military were presented.  This seems to measure up to what I have found.

Now here are the records that I was able to find to help verify these events.

My grandfather was a Staff Sergeant in the US Marines at the time of his discharge, a radio repairman and operator, but his primary military duty was public relations.  Here is the muster roll for the USS Briscoe, APA-65 Gilliam-class attack transport. His rank is specified as a Sergeant:

Next, I found the war diaries for the USS Briscoe, beginning on 1 September, 1945:

This clearly places the USS Briscoe in the right place at the right time.

As of yet, I have not found any other specific records that place my grandfather on the USS Missouri at this time. However, I did find one other interesting article in Newspapers.com regarding an officer onboard the USS Briscoe:

Obviously, Lt. Shirley was fortunate enough to have his presence at the signing confirmed by the above newspaper article.  It does at least give credence to my grandfather’s account of military personnel being taken to the USS Missouri.

Here is a photograph of my grandfather in his Marine dress uniform:

Here are two photographs of my grandfather with his brother-in-law and my great-uncle, Bill Earp:

Here is a photograph of General McArthur at the signing table aboard the USS Missouri. General Nimitz and General Bradley are also in attendance.  In the back row, on the right hand side, there is a line of Marines that you can clearly see by their dress uniform hats (they match the one my grandfather is wearing above).  There’s a good chance that one of them might be my grandfather.

I never really knew if my grandfather realized what an historic moment this was and that he was there to witness it 77 years ago.  Remember that if you have a relative or ancestor that was involved in some historic event and you only know of this by family lore, go check into it and see if you can find records that back the family story up. You may be surprised at what you find!

Here’s the real kicker of the whole thing…

2 September, 1945 was my grandfather’s birthday.  He turned 32 years old that day!

Sources:

National Archives in Washington, D.C. – U.S. Marine Corps Report of Separation

Library of Congress

Newspapers.com©

Featured Image – USS Briscoe (APA-65) arriving at Bikini Atoll circa late May of 1946. The USS Briscoe survived two atomic blasts in the target area at Bikini on July 1st and 25th of 1946. She was used for two years for radiological and structural studies research. On 6 May, 1948, the USS Briscoe was scuttled off the Marshall Islands by the USS Duluth. (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

Acknowledgments:

Betty (Lentz) Miller (my mother) – thank you Mom for the information

Cheryl, my wife, my life long cheerleader and the love of my life!