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1945
V-Days
People
threw confetti from Appleton's College Avenue windows, pounded
on kettles, blew whistles, and danced in the streets on August
15, 1945. Stores and schools closed. Churches held community
services. Everyone called the day V-J, meaning victory over
Japan. The day marked the end of four years of war.
»
View video clip of a
parade in Appleton.
Outagamie
County veterans returned home over the next year. Local communities
held parades, dinners, and open houses for the returning men
and women. Some veterans went back to school. Others went
to work and started families. They came back to a new and
stronger America. Their country had become the richest and
strongest nation in the world.
Approximately
sixty million people—soldiers, and civilian
men, women, and children—died in the war,
including:
- 20
million Russians
- 10
million Chinese
- 7
million Germans
- 6
million Jews
- 6
million Polish
- 2
million Japanese
- 1.4
million Yugoslavs
- 800,000
French
- 400,000
Americans
- 360,000
British
- 34,000
Canadians
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 Back
Appleton
Wire Works steam whistle, circa 1900
OCHS # 2000.52.1
This
whistle blew on V-J (Victory Japan) Day in celebration of
the Japanese surrender. The
day marked the end of four years of war for Outagamie County
residents.
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