--- title: Japan's WWII Surrender: What You Don't Know About WWII's End description: The story of the last American killed in combat in World War II — and how his death almost changed the course of history canonical: https://time.com/4017094/wwii-last-american-death/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-31T17:00:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:01:51.349Z article:section: History og:title: Japan's WWII Surrender: What You Don't Know About WWII's End og:description: The story of the last American killed in combat in World War II og:url: https://time.com/4017094/wwii-last-american-death/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd28e91947d7ea877/698861a68e0601ed9f46220d/surrender.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Douglas MacArthur og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Japan's WWII Surrender: What You Don't Know About WWII's End twitter:description: The story of the last American killed in combat in World War II twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd28e91947d7ea877/698861a68e0601ed9f46220d/surrender.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What You Don’t Know About the End of World War II > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [Stephen Harding / History News Network](https://time.com/author/history-news-network/) ## Stephen Harding / History News Network Aug 31, 2015 5:00 PM UTC  Douglas MacArthur signing surrender of Japan on warship USS MIssouri on Sept. 2, 1945 Douglas MacArthur signing surrender of Japan on warship USS MIssouri on Sept. 2, 1945 Apic / Getty Images by [Stephen Harding / History News Network](https://time.com/author/history-news-network/) ## Stephen Harding / History News Network Aug 31, 2015 5:00 PM UTC  History News Network _This post is in partnership with the_ [_History News Network_](http://historynewsnetwork.org/)_, the website that puts the news into historical perspective. The article below was originally published at_ [_HNN._](http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/160418) Before dawn on a steamy Pacific morning seventy years ago U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Anthony J. Marchione climbed aboard a huge, four-engined bomber at Yontan airfield on Okinawa. Hours later that aircraft, a B-32 Dominator, was ravaged by Japanese fighters and 20-year-old Tony bled to death in the skies above Tokyo. The young aerial gunner died as so many others did in that long-ago conflict, cradled in the arms of a buddy who was powerless to save him, and his passing would be sadly unremarkable were it not for two facts: He was the last American killed in combat in World War II, and the manner of his death very nearly changed history. By early August 1945 Japan’s armed forces had been rolled back throughout the Pacific, its major cities and industrial centers had been reduced to smoking rubble by waves of Allied aircraft, and many of its people were on the verge of starvation. Though some of Emperor Hirohito’s military and political advisers argued that the nation should continue to fight, both to uphold its honor and to force the Allies into accepting a negotiated end to the war rather than the unconditional surrender they were demanding, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki three days later convinced the diminutive monarch that continued resistance was futile. He announced his decision to surrender—though he never actually uttered the word—in a pre-recorded speech broadcast to the nation on August 15\. An attempted palace coup failed to halt the move toward capitulation, and by August 16 orders were going out to Japanese forces worldwide to lay down their arms, stop all offensive action and abide by the ceasefire terms issued by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, the supreme commander for the Allied powers in the Pacific. In order to confirm the Japanese were following his directives, MacArthur ordered reconnaissance flights over key areas of Japan, including the greater Tokyo metropolitan area. Among the aircraft assigned to the recon task were the Okinawa-based 386th Bombardment Squadron’s B-32s, and on August 16 four of the Dominators flew over the Japanese capital without interference. The following day things did not go as well, however, for another quartet of B-32s was fired upon by anti-aircraft batteries and then attacked over Tokyo by fighters belonging to the Japanese navy’s 302nd and Yokosuka air groups. The Dominators made it home with only minor damage and no casualties, but MacArthur needed to know whether the anti-aircraft fire and fighter attacks were random acts by rogue elements or, more ominously, an indication that the Japanese might be wavering in their commitment to surrender. He therefore ordered four more B-32s back over Tokyo on August 18, though two of the aircraft turned back with mechanical problems. The Dominators that reached Tokyo were jumped by fighters from Atsugi and Yokosuka; gunfire from the Japanese aircraft severely wounded aerial photographer Staff Sgt. Joseph Lacharite and killed Tony Marchione, who was acting as Lacharite’s assistant. Had MacArthur decided that this egregious violation of the ceasefire indicated that Japan was in fact _not_ intending to surrender he could well have restarted the air war against the island nation, with all the dire consequences that would entail. To his credit, however, he chose to wait. A Japanese surrender delegation was scheduled to fly to his Manila headquarters on August 19 via the U.S. airfield on the island of Ie Shima; if the two aircraft bearing the delegation failed to appear, it would be a clear sign that Tokyo was reneging on the surrender decision. If the aircraft _did_ arrive, it would confirm that the attacks on the B-32s had been carried out by mutinous die-hards. To the relief of everyone in MacArthur’s headquarters the surrender delegation arrived on schedule and the Japanese government quickly brought the various rogue military units under control. The first Allied occupation troops landed in Japan on August 28—at Atsugi, as it turned out—and on Sept. 2, 1945, World War II officially ended with the surrender ceremony aboard the battleship USS _Missouri_ in Tokyo Bay. Sadly, it took another four years for Tony Marchione’s remains to make the journey from a temporary interment site on Okinawa to the cemetery of his family’s parish church in Pottstown. The last American killed in combat in World War II—and the man whose death nearly changed history—was buried with full military honors on March 21, 1949. _Stephen Harding is the author of nine books, including the New York Times bestseller The Last Battle. His most recent book is_ [Last to Die: A Defeated Empire, a Forgotten Mission, and the Last American Killed in World War II](http://www.amazon.com/Last-Die-Defeated-Forgotten-American/dp/0306823381) _(Da Capo Press 2015)._ ### Post-War Ads from 1945 ![An ad that appeared in the Aug. 20, 1945, issue of TIME. Plastics from the chemical company Monsanto are sold to G.I.s for the "decade after Victory, \[when\] your 'Castles in the Air' will become Homes in America."](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt044f7a7ab9c6ce4b/69885dc92dce01f99e9e4e86/19450820-58.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp) An ad that appeared in the Aug. 20, 1945, issue of TIME. Plastics from the chemical company Monsanto are sold to G.I.s for the "decade after Victory, \[when\] your 'Castles in the Air' will become Homes in America." TIME / Monsanto  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 20, 1945, issue of TIME. As a group of G.i.s returns to find that those on the home front have done their part, Caterpillar Tractor Co. encourages civilians to keep buying War Bonds with "no slacking off until the evil thing that threatens our homes has been wholly vanquished." TIME / Caterpillar Tractor  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 20, 1945, issue of TIME. The Douglas DC-6 plane is touted as "First home...in war or peace." TIME / Douglas  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 20, 1945, issue of TIME. Wartime research that went into the General Motors Aeroprop propeller will benefit civilian aviation too, this ad explains. TIME / General Motors  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 27, 1945, issue of TIME. The postwar return to full production at factories will be an opportunity for businesses, and "foresighted wiring in postwar plans" will keep those factories efficient. TIME / Anaconda Wire & Cable  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 27, 1945, issue of TIME. Civilians are encouraged to rely on air transportation even as military aviation winds down. TIME / The Airlines of the United States  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 27, 1945, issue of TIME. A G.I. returning to his office job is celebrated by grateful colleagues...who thank him by putting his desk near the soda machine. TIME / Pepsi  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 27, 1945, issue of TIME. "As soon as war conditions permit," Kodak promises, full-color film will be once again available for civilian use. TIME / Kodak  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 27, 1945, issue of TIME. A two-page spread from Buick reminds readers that returning G.I.s deserve cars that are "nice to come home to" even as the war work continues. TIME / Buick  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 27, 1945, issue of TIME. Once radio are fully available at peacetime production levels, this ad warns, demand will be very high—so better to order in advance. TIME / Emerson Radio  An ad that appeared in the Aug. 27, 1945, issue of TIME. The record-keeping needs of war were addressed by Diebold office equipment, this page reminds readers, and the problems of the reconversion period can be thus solved too. TIME / Diebold  An ad that appeared in the Sept. 3, 1945, issue of TIME. Hire a veteran, says this public-service announcement paid for by BF Goodrich, to improve your business' morale and discipline. TIME / The B.F. Goodrich Company  An ad that appeared in the Sept. 3, 1945, issue of TIME. If Army and Navy hospitals—as well as "airmen whose faces are susceptible to frostbite"—use Remington Electric Shavers, why wouldn't those men keep using the same shavers after the war? And if it takes a little while for civilian production levels to increase, the ad notes, the wait will be worthwhile. TIME / Remington Electric Shavers  An ad that appeared in the Sept. 3, 1945, issue of TIME. Exide Batteries honors the Navy and Merchant Marine, while reminding readers that the ships on which those men served contained many battery-powered tools for which dependability was crucial. TIME / Exide Batteries  An ad that appeared in the Sept. 10, 1945, issue of TIME. The medical ultraviolet glass lamps made by Corning that are shown in this ad aren't actually weapons, but the company uses a wartime analogy to compare them to an "ack-ack gun" that could be used against disease. TIME / Corning  An ad that appeared in the Sept. 10, 1945, issue of TIME. What does a sewing machine and a radio program of 1890s standards have to do with the war? This ad for a Tobe Filterizer that prevents household electronic equipment (like the sewing machine) from causing radio static is touted as a way that "your post war home can have both." TIME / Tobe  An ad that appeared in the Sept. 17, 1945, issue of TIME. Though this chocolate advertisement doesn't call out the war specifically, the man giving a woman his hat and a Whitman's Sampler has clearly recently returned from the service. TIME / Whitman's  An ad that appeared in the Sept. 17, 1945, issue of TIME. "If it hadn't been for the war and shortages," this ad declares, "lots of families might never have learned how many different kinds of those good Campbell's Soups there are!" TIME / Campbell's ![An ad that appeared in the Sept. 17, 1945, issue of TIME. This tribute to veterans plays on a little boy asking his father for an explanation of the lapel pin given to honorably discharged veterans—and promises that "as \[servicemembers\] go on to final victory they have first call on Camels."](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaec83b5eb5c71adb/69885dc8428a9e32dacce7c7/19450917-112.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp) An ad that appeared in the Sept. 17, 1945, issue of TIME. This tribute to veterans plays on a little boy asking his father for an explanation of the lapel pin given to honorably discharged veterans—and promises that "as \[servicemembers\] go on to final victory they have first call on Camels." 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