Today marks the 80th anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies ending the War in Europe. Officially, Victory in Europe (VE) day is tomorrow because the Soviets insisted on a surrender in Berlin the next day, but the German high command surrendered at 2:41 a.m. on May 7, 1945, at Eisenhower’s headquarters in Reims, France. History records that Ike sent a very brief telegram, stating “The mission of this Allied Force was complete at 0241, May 7, 1945.” and went to bed.
Four more months of fighting in the Pacific and another million casualties would signal the end of World War II in mid-August. History’s most catastrophic and costly war was complete and more than 50 million lie dead and buried. The destruction was horrid throughout Europe, Japan, China and the western Pacific nations. No nation suffered more than the Soviet Union.