Ceremony held to honor Delaware’s fallen troops in World War II

LEWES, Del. – The rain stayed away just long enough in Lewes for the annual Fort Miles World War II ceremony Sunday morning.

The ceremony is held every September 2nd in recognition of the Japanese surrender in 1945.

The 800 fallen soldiers from Delaware in the second world war are honored by having their names read off one by one, followed by the ringing of a bell.

The ceremony is held under the “Big Gun” at the museum, which was aboard the U.S.S. Missouri when General Douglas MacArthur accepted the Japanese surrender.

“A lot of Americans don’t appreciate how many ships were sunk shortly, or immediately, off the coast of Delaware and up and down the east coast,” said Jim Pierce, secretary for the Fort Miles Historical Association. “So we tell the story of the German U-Boats that attacked, not only our military ships, but our commercial ships.”

The ceremony was all part of the annual Delaware Goes To War open house at Fort Miles.