HONOLULU — Communities across the United States and the Pacific held ceremonies on Friday to mark the 81st anniversary of V-J Day, honouring Japan's surrender that ended World War II in 1945. Veterans groups, museums and civic organisations organised wreath-layings and remembrance events at Pearl Harbor sites in Hawaii and the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.

The anniversary carries added weight as the wartime generation continues to pass. Dwindling numbers of surviving veterans, now aged in their late nineties and older, attended this year's observances, with fewer firsthand witnesses expected at future commemorations.

The date, August 14 in the United States because of time zone differences, commemorates President Harry Truman's announcement of Japan's acceptance of Allied surrender terms in 1945. The formal signing aboard the USS Missouri followed on September 2. Many local American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts planned smaller gatherings and moments of silence.

Veterans advocates urged the public to record oral histories while surviving service members remain, warning that living memory of the conflict is fading rapidly. Museum staff highlighted educational programmes aimed at younger generations to preserve accounts of the war and document the experiences of those who served.