Celebrate VJ Day With Western Slope Veterans at WWII Memorial

September 2 is the day we celebrate VJ Day, marking the allied victory over Japan in World War II. Take a look back Western Colorado World War II vets with images from three of the five flights to Washington DC with Western Slope Honor Flight.

There tends to be confusion regarding VJ Day. According to Nationaltoday.com:

VJ day is celebrated on different dates in different nations. For example, V-J Day is August 15 in the United Kingdom; that’s the date of the initial announcement of Japanese surrender. In the United States, however, V-J Day refers to September 2 — the day in 1945 on which the surrender of the Empire of Japan was actually formalized, marking the end of World War II.

Why is referred to as VJ Day? For those of us in the 40+ crowd, V-J's (or VeeJays) were the designation given to "disc jockeys" who work in the budding music video industry in the early 1980's. V-J's were "video jockeys," while the radio crowd remained DJ's. When it comes to this holiday, V-J stands for "Victory over Japan."

I had the opportunity to travel with Western Slope Honor Flight on three of the five trips to Washington DC. The organization provided World War II veterans the chance to visit the World War II Memorial at no cost to them. Air transportation, food, lodging, and ground transportation, were all provided.

The video above includes photos from the first, third, and fifth Honor Flight to set out from Grand Junction.