 Welcome to All Hands Update, I'm Petty Officer Mara Timberlake. Service members and civilians celebrated the 69th anniversary of the end of World War II aboard the Battleship Missouri Memorial in Pearl Harbor, September 2. That same day in 1945, the Japanese instrument of surrender was signed aboard Missouri by General Douglas MacArthur, Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, and Japanese Foreign Minister Memorial Shigemitsu in Tokyo Bay. U.S. and British ships were anchored in Tokyo Bay for the event, which took less than a half hour to complete. Two weeks prior, Japan accepted the Allies' terms of surrender. Today, USS Missouri stands as a monument, signifying the beginning and end of World War II for the United States. You can visit USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor and tour the museum ship where the war began. For more information on naval history during World War II, visit the Naval History and Heritage Command website.