On April 29, 1932, while attending the celebration for Emperor Hirohito's birthday in Shanghai, a Korean Independence activist threw a bomb into the reviewing stand, killing a general and wounding many others, including Shigemitsu who lost his left leg as a result and walked with an artificial leg and cane for the rest of his life. This was one thing James Starnes had to plan for in the surrender ceremony was the foreign minister's disability.
After that, he became ambassador to the Soviet Union. He tried to warn his government against signing the Berlin Pact, saying it would greatly worsen U.S.-Japan relations.
He later went to Washington, D.C., for two weeks to try to defuse the worsening relations. After Pearl harbor, he was sent to China.
He signed the Instrument of Surrender on September 2, 1945, along with Japanese General Umezu.
--GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
No comments:
Post a Comment