Commentary by Sue Morrow: WWII is still worthy of U.S. attention

Sunday was the 66th anniversary of President Harry S. Truman's announcement of the Japanese surrender during World War II.

I found that interesting piece of history in a newspaper, part of a brief rundown of important events that happened a number of years ago on the same date as the publication date.

I would have loved to have seen that memorable event more prominently recognized, as I'm sure most of us who were personally affected by that terrible war would.

The date, Aug. 14, 1945 , when Truman told Americans that the country that wanted to conquer the world had conceded defeat, will always represent the boundless joy and enormous relief my family and I experienced. My father was in the Pacific Theater, commanding an attack transport. My mother, two brothers and I were all too aware of the great danger he and all our service members faced in their efforts to combat the enemy.

My father and his crew came home seemingly unscathed from their assignment. That could not be said for a friend of my parents', a naval aviator, or of a friend of my grandfather's, an Army general.

When I was a toddler, we lived in Panama, where my father was in command of a mine sweeper. Our next-door neighbors Janice and aviator Elwood "Pinky"Madsen were childless, so they lavished their affection on the three of us children. "Uncle Pinky" was ordered to Guam, where Janice joined him, and according to her in later conversations, they enjoyed an idyllic and carefree life. Until word that the Japanese were planning an attack on the island and all Navy dependents were quickly evacuated. Uncle Pinky was among those on Guam who were taken prisoner and subjected to unspeakable brutality during his four years of captivity.

The general, Jonathan Wainwright, was a friend of my grandfather's who was post surgeon at Fort Riley, Kan., an Army remount post that boasted hundreds of well-trained mounts for what was then the horse cavalry. "Skinny," as Wainwright had been dubbed at West Point because of his slight frame, and my grandfather were both ardent horsemen and, since there were no foxes to hunt, chased coyotes over the hills of Kansas.

Wainwright and his men were taken prisoner by Japanese forces on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines and liberated 39 months later. They too were terribly brutalized.

An emaciated, not simply "skinny," Wainwright was among the dignitaries who attended the formal Japanese surrender on Sept. 2, 1945, aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

I would like to see every anniversary of the end of that horrible war fully recognized. The same for all our others.

. . .

I find it very tiresome that businesses across the border in Douglas County tout themselves as being in Carson City. I guess that's because they think they will earn more capital by being in the capital city, pun intended.

I note that when Borders book store on Topsy Lane off U.S. Highway 395 announced it was liquidating its inventory and closing, people wrote letters to the editor of the Nevada Appeal, lamenting the fact that Carson City will no longer have a bookstore. The writers didn't say they wouldn't have ACCESS to a book store. They said they wouldn't HAVE a book store in Carson City. Well, we didn't have one. Douglas County did.

Try calling the Target store, Home Depot or Borders on the telephone. In each case, the automated operator says, "Thank you for calling the Carson City" Target, etc. Their yellow page ads even list Carson City on their addresses. So if they want to claim their businesses are located in the capital city, let's see the tax revenue from their sales.

• Sue Morrow is a longtime journalist and member of the Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame. She can be reached at soozymorrow@yahoo.com.