08/31/2026
๐บ๐ธ Did you know? When Japan formally surrendered aboard the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945, a historic 31-star American flag was displayed nearby.
The flag had been carried to Japan by Commodore Matthew Perry during his 1853โ1854 expeditions, which helped open relations between Japan and the United States. More than 90 years later, that same flag was brought from the U.S. Naval Academy Museum and displayed aboard the Missouri as representatives gathered to formally end World War II.