September 2, 1945:
Excerpt for our Nonfiction book Whispers From the Soul, by Don and Linda Pendleton.
THE MESSAGE
On board the Attack Transport USS Rutland, riding anchor in the Philippines,
Radioman Second Class Don Pendleton was on duty in the Radio Shack when a “plain
language” Morse Code message from Washington
D.C. produced a flurry of
excitement. Most messages received
during those war years were cryptically encoded for security purposes. A plain language message from the President
of the United States
himself would have been reason enough for some degree of anxiety for the
radioman on duty at the moment. This
particular message was awesomely stunning as the young radio-telegrapher began
typing in the surprising announcement.
The Rutland was the Flag Ship of Attack Transport
Division 47 which was already involved in the preparations for an all-out
assault on the Japanese homeland. This
division, comprising six Attack Transports with their full contingents of five
hundred combat soldiers on board each ship, had been assigned to lead invasion
forces in Northern Japan and they had been
outfitted with foul-weather gear designed to protect them against the colder
climate of the Northern Pacific. Don was
a part of the Flag Group itself, directly under the supervision of the Task
Group's commander, Captain C. L. Hutton, where his principle assignment was as
the Petty Officer in Charge of an elite ten-man group of “Scouts and Raiders”
who performed special ground missions behind enemy lines. When not involved in those duties, he worked
alongside the Ship's Company in the Radio Room.
When the startling
message from President Truman began forming in Don's earphones, his fingers
caressed the keyboard of the typewriter and he was stunned to discover that he
seemed to be typing out a script for a science-fiction movie. An Atomic Bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima, Japan?!
All of these warriors
had known from the moment that the Task Force had begun marshaling for an
invasion of Japan
itself that this operation would be “one bloody son-of-a-bitch!” After Guam, after the Philippines, after Iwo Jima, after Okinawa and Ie Shima, they all knew that a ground assault
of the Japanese mainland would produce the most ferocious and brutal battle that
they had ever encountered.
But–an Atomic Bomb? What the hell could that mean? They were soon to discover what it
meant. After the second Atomic Bomb had
been dropped, this one on Nagasaki, the shaken
Emperor Hirohito of Japan
announced to his people that the war was over.
The “Tokyo Task Force”
was already steaming north from Manila
and all now understood the full import of that astounding message from
the President. This war was finally
over. The Japanese had sued for
peace.
For the soldiers and
sailors of the “Tokyo Task Force,” it simply meant that they would all be going
home soon. A few weeks later, on
September 2, 1945, Don and his small group of Scouts, en route to a survey of
the docking facilities in Yokohama, sped in their small launch directly beneath
the fantail of the USS Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay, as the official
surrender ceremony was being readied for General MacArthur, Admiral Nimitz and
the Japanese emissaries. The Tokyo Task
Force soon after became a leading element of the “Magic Carpet Fleet” which
began taking home soldiers, sailors and marines from around the Pacific.
Yes, World War II had
ended. Planet Earth had just entered a
dramatic new phase of human evolution from which there would be no turning
back.
The Atomic Age had
begun.
From "Whispers
From the Soul: The Divine Dance of Consciousness" by Don and Linda
Pendleton.
