Rhode Island retains the date as a formal state holiday in tribute to the number of sailors it sent and lost in the Pacific front.

In 2015,[4] the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama honored 500 veterans on the 70th anniversary of the end of the war.

[5] Victory Day has commemorated the anniversary of Japan's surrender to the Allies in 1945 which ended World War II.

President Truman's announcement of the surrender started mass celebrations across the United States, which was when he declared September 2 as the official "VJ Day" in 1945.

[1] According to WPRI-TV, Rhode Island has had debates over whether to retain the state holiday, with opponents citing Japan's growing "economic might" in the 1980s and offense to Japanese Americans, but all efforts to remove or rename the holiday have been defeated by veterans, "traditionalists", and labor unions.