MILLVILLE, Pa. — Chief Yeomen Robert W. York knew he was clutching a piece of history as he hurried to find his boss aboard the USS Holland, which was trolling the Pacific days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The dispatch from President Harry S. Truman’s navy secretary, James Forrestal, dated Aug. 15, 1945, read: “All hands of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard may take satisfaction in the conclusion of the war against Japan.”
York kept that 8-inch-by-6.5-inch piece of paper in a shoebox for the next six decades. He died in February at age 91, and now his son is auctioning it off in Pennsylvania on the 67th anniversary of V-J Day, the end of the war with Japan.
“It was the most treasured of all the things he had,” said Bob York, 65. “He viewed this as not being a piece of paper; he viewed this as saving his life and hundreds of thousands of other men’s lives. It was like salvation.”
York hopes the winning bidder will be a museum or someone with an appreciation of World War II.
