Missouri and the War 61
MISSOURI AND THE WAR
PART XIII
BY DOROTHY DYSART FLYNN1
Missouri's president Harry S. Truman in 124 days as
chief executive of the United States electrified the world with
four epochal announcements. The first came less than a
month after he took office when he announced on May 6 the
unconditional surrender of Germany and the end of the war
in Europe. Three months later, August 6, he rocked the world
with the announcement that Hiroshima had been bombed
with America's new secret weapon, the atomic bomb! The
power of this staggered the imagination, even while people
shivered in fear at this revolutionary weapon of warfare.
Announcement number three was given August 9 in the
shortest press conference on record. The president stood
before his hastily summoned press and said, "I have only a
simple announcement to make. I can't hold a regular press
conference today, but this announcement is so important I
thought I would call you in. Russia has declared war on
Japan. That is all." Yet this simple announcement was a
diplomatic plum that Missouri's president had plucked out
of the Potsdam conference.
The next day brought tentative peace feelers from the
land of the rising sun. Three days of suspense followed with
peace rumors flying, and the White House, like the rest of
the nation, was on a twenty-four hours a day alert. On
August 14 at six o'clock p. m. came the president's fourth
announcement. The most destructive war in history was
over. Japan had surrendered unconditionally!
Idoeothy dysabt pltnn, a native Missourian, graduated from the school
of journalism of the University of Missouri in 1032 and did graduate study in
1940-1941. She is now a research associate on the staff of the State Historical
Society.
