BICENTENNIAL MALL TODAY MARKED
THE
END OF A CONFLICT THAT STILL
SHAPES
OUR WORLD.
ON AUGUST 14TH, 1945, JAPAN
SURRENDERED TO END WORLD WAR
TWO.
STATE CAPITOL REPORTER CHRIS
BUNDGAARD SHOWS US HOW TENNESSEE
REMEMBERED THE DAY.
SON OF WW2 VET:
2227 THIS IS MY FATHER WHO
SERVED IN WORLD WAR 2, HE WENT
IN
THE NAVY IN 1940.
--
ON ANY DAY YOU'LL FIND PEOPLE
BICENTENNIAL MALL IN NASHVILLE
REMEMBERING LOVED ONES OR
LEARNING ABOUT WORLD WAR TWO,
BUT THIS WAS A SPECIAL DAY
CLEARLY RECALLED BY MANY
INCLUDING
A RETIRED STATE ARCHEOLOGIST. --
S/NICK FIELDER/RETIRED STATE
ARCHEOLOGIST:
1746 I WAS THREE AND HALF YEARS
OLD WHEN THE WAR ENDED AND I
REMEMBER VERY DISTINCTLY
EVERYBODY CELEBRATING
--
THAT JOY 75-YEARS AGO CAME AFTER
NEARLY SIX YEARS OF WAR. --
A FEW IDENTIFYING NOTES OF TAPS:
--
A WREATH MARKING THE JAPAN'S
SURRENDER 75- YEARS AGO ON THIS
DAY WAS LAID BY THE FLOATING
GRANITE GLOBE SHOWING WORLD
WAR TWO'S MAJOR BATTLES. THE
SOLDIERS THERE WERE
CALLED THE GREATEST GENERATION.
--
S/MAJ. GENERAL JEFF HOLMES/TN
NATIONAL GUARD:
948 I THINK THESE EVENTS RIGHT
HERE ARE VERY IMPORTANT. ITS
VERY IMPORTANT FOR OUR YOUTH TO
SEE THE RECOGNITION OF THIS
GREATEST GENERATION
--
CLAYTON WALDEN ECHOED THOSE
WORDS AS HE CAME HERE WITH A
JACKET SIGNIFYING HIS OWN
SERVICE IN
VIETNAM AND THE GULF, BUT THIS
DAY
WAS ABOUT HIS DAD. --
S/CLAYTON WALDEN/VETERAN SON OF
WORLD WAR TWO VET:
2608 I HOPE WE CAN EDUCATE THE
YOUNGER GENERATIONS
WHAT OUR FATHERS AND FOREFATHERS
WENT THOUGH
--
COVID-19 KEPT AWAY SOLDIERS
STILL ALIVE, BUT REMEMBERING THE
TENNESSEANS WHO DIED WILL NEVER
BE
FORGOTTEN AT THIS MEMORIAL.
EIGHT GRANITE STONE MONOLITHS
HIGHLIGHT THE CONFLICT.
--
1408 EACH ONE OF THESE STONES.
--
S/JOSH WAGGENER/
BICENTENNIAL MALL STATE PARK
RANGER:
1412 REPRESENTS TEN THOUSAND
STORIES AND TEN THOUSAND
EXPERIENCES ACROSS THIS STATE
AND ACROSS THIS COUNTRY. --
THAN FIVE THOUSAND MOSTLY
YOUNG TENNESSEANS SACRIFICED
THEIR LIVES IN FARAWAY
PLACES LIKE NORMANDY. FRANCE OR
SOMEWHERE IN THE
PACIFIC BEFORE BEFORE TWO
ATOM-BOMBS FORCED JAPAN TO
SURRENDER-- EXACTLY 75 YEARS
AGO. REPORTING FROM NASHVILLE,
CHRIS BUNDGAARD
LORI:
WE'RE TOLD THE WORLD WAR TWO
MEMORIAL IS ONE OF THE MOST
VISITED AREAS OF BICENTENNIAL
MALL'S STATE PARK.
MADISEN
STILL TO COME -
THE COMMUNITY COMING TOGETHER
- TO MAKE THE HOSPITAL - A
LITTLE
