Local vet witnessed Japanese surrender: 'Hap' Piper saw signing of surrender document on USS Missouri

POLSON — It's been a little over 61 years since the Japanese surrender papers were signed aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945. But "Hap" Piper of Polson remembers the day clearly. He was there.

From his position, just off the pilothouse on the starboard side, he had a good view of the events. He watched Japan's short, disabled Emperor Hirohito inch his way aboard the Missouri along with General Douglas MacArthur and other military leaders.

In a 1995 interview he told the Commercial-News of Danville, Ill., "I was too young to think too many things too profound or prophetic. But I thought how inconsistent that was that the emperor could barely make it up the deck, yet he was responsible for so much destruction."

The signing occurred nearly four years after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

As a communications supervisor aboard the flag ship USS Missouri, Piper was among the first to hear that Japan would surrender. The initial message came across the ship's radio on Aug. 14, 1945, and stated that all action should be terminated until further instruction.

Hap was skeptical as were many of the crew members — even when the Missouri was directed from its position east of Okinawa to sail to Tokyo. As the battleship entered the narrow Tokyo Bay, Piper and crew members wondered if the hundred of more white flags flying on Japanese shore-based gun emplacements might be a trap.

The suspicions were understandable. The Missouri had survived encounters with kamikaze planes in Buckner Bay, Okinawa. Piper said one plane crashed onto the deck — but failed to explode. Crew members pushed the plane overboard. Hap received two Bronze Stars on his Asiatic-Pacific medal for this engagement and one at Leyte Gulf.

The skepticism was allayed finally when French, English and Australian officers filed on board for the official signing of surrender papers.

He recalls that there was no celebration aboard the Missouri, even after Japan signed the peace treaty ending WWII. The mood was solemn until the crew made it back to the States in the fall.

"It was quite an event … It was relieving, but everyone was quiet. It wasn't like you might expect," Piper said.

Piper, who had served under Admiral William T. (Bull) Halsey on the heavy cruiser USS Louisville before moving to the Missouri, now transferred with Halsey again to the battleship South Dakota and prepared for the trip back to the States. The ship picked up a contingent of Marines at Buckner Bay and headed for Pearl Harbor and then to San Francisco.

The South Dakota's entrance under the Golden Gate bridge was timed to occur on Navy Day with the ship's stack positioned under the middle of the bridge at 12 o'clock noon. Then the ship was anchored in Oakland Bay to await the dredging of Pier 27 to accommodate the arrival of Bob Hope's USO troupe that staged a huge performance aboard the ship.

Piper was discharged from active duty Jan. 2, 1946, and started his electrical service business in Ohio. In 1948 he visited Montana for the first time.

His navy duties weren't finished, however.

"I was recalled during the Korean action but served that time with the North Atlantic amphibious force before being discharged at the Virginia Beach Naval Air Station," he said.

He returned to his electrical business in Ohio until moving in 1968 to Missoula where he helped rebuild the Grace United Methodist Church that had been destroyed by an arson-caused fire.

Hap came to Polson in 1974 and later (1990-95) managed the Flathead Electric Service for five years when owner Frank Mutch worked in the U.S. Embassy in Peru.

"The most rewarding 10 years of my life," Hap said, occurred when he completed training at Garret Evangelical Theological Seminary on the Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Ill., and was ordained at the annual Methodist Church Conference in Missoula in 1984.

He served as a minister for churches in Valier, a three-point circuit of Roundup, Grass Range and Winnett, and a two-point charge of Clancy and Boulder. After retiring from fulltime ministry he has served as an interim minister at the Polson Christian (Disciples of Christ) Church, was recalled to Clancy, and was an interim at the Hot Springs Presbyterian Church. And he still does occasional pulpit supply at area churches.

Now a member of the Polson Community Church, he's been active in helping build the new fellowship hall/dining area.

Hap's first wife, Mary, managed the Polson Senior Center for several years before her death in 1993. He married Phyllis Morigeau in 1996.

In his 82 years, Hap Piper has compiled an excellent track record serving very well his country, communities and churches — and continues to do so.