VE Day: 70 years ago

Friday, May 8, marks the 70th anniversary of VE Day, the day the Allies accepted the unconditional surrender of Germany, ending World War II in Europe.

Four years ago, in honor of Veterans Day, we gathered the veterans at Plymouth Harbor. Thirty turned out; 21 were World War II veterans. We’ve highlighted the WWII veterans above.

These 21 were among the 16 million Americans who participated in World War II. Today, there are about 1 million World War II veterans alive in the U.S. By the end of 2015, that number is expected to fall to 855,000.

To commemorate the historic date, Great Britain will observe a national two-minute silence at 3 p.m. Friday, marking the moment Winston Churchill announced the end of the war. After that, historic Spitfire and Lancaster bombers will take to the skies, and a chain of more than 100 beacons will be lighted throughout the U.K. In the village of Ardleigh in Essex, villagers plan to celebrate with a sausage and chip supper in the village hall.

At the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, VE Day festivities will include a discussion with the grandchildren of Gen. Dwight Eisenhower and a live radio broadcast of “On the Air.” … The Greatest Generation.

Front row:

Hart Wurzburg: Army, 1941 to 1945, World War II

Carroll Johnson: Navy, 1942-46

Joseph Berkely: Army Air Corps, 1943-45

Bucky Buchanan: Army Air Corps, 1941-45

Robert Lawrence: Signal Corps, 1943-45

Clifford Tuttle: Army, 1942-44

Lew Pollock: Air Force, 1942-46

Middle row:

Harley Koets: Navy, 1945-46

Thomas Favell: Navy, 1941-45

Sallie Van Arsdale: Navy WAVES, 1944-46

Dick Baum: Army Infantry/Military Intelligence, 1943-45

Marlow Cook: Navy, 1941-45,  

Henry Gieseler: Navy, 1942-46

George Heitler: Army, 1942-54

Don Wallace: Army Infantry, 1943-46

Back row:

Bobby Broderick: Army Intel and Recon, 1941-46

Joe Iaria: Army Air Force, 1943-45

Lou Schneider: Navy, 1943-46

Scott Pike: Marines, 1942-46

Gil Dosse: Army Air Force, 1943-46

Frank Heider: Army, 1946-47