CLAREMORE, Okla. — The Claremore Veterans Home hosted Oklahoma's only 80th anniversary ceremony of V-J Day, marking the surrender of Imperial Japan to Allied Forces on Sept. 2, 1945.
Claremore native and Cherokee Warrior Ret. Quartermaster 3rd Class John Cockrum of the USS Piranha remembers that day.
"As far as the exact date, I think we were still (docked at Pearl Harbor)," Cockrum said. "But right after that they sent us to Midway and we waited on some other submarines. And they sent us all back together, you know, and there was a big celebration in San Francisco."
Watch the extended interview with WWII veteran John Cockrum below
The struggle for victory reasserted Joseph Menninger's commitment to join the effort any way he could.
"I couldn't pass a physical. I tried the Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps, and I lost out on all three," Menninger told 2 News. "But fortunately, the next loser was the Army."
WATCH: The wisdom shared by veterans on V-J Day 80th anniversary
Menninger began his decades-long career in the Army in 1954 and rose to the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 4 in special operations command.
Despite the awards from the ceremony on the 80th anniversary, Cockrum, also a retired Sapulpa High School principal, worries for the world of today and tomorrow.
"The world doesn't have to be angry at one another and fight one another like they do, but they do," Cockrum said. "Every so often we've got to have a war because somebody stepped on their toes or something. And people just have to learn to get along together."
"Trust God and there's no obstacle that you cannot overcome," Menninger said of his advice to fellow Americans. "And you'll be surprised what He gives you sometimes."
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