VJ Day

Although I didn't realize at the time what all the commotion was about, I remember the day Bridgman celebrated the surrender of Japan, ending World War Two. It was August 14, 1945.  I was just 4-1/2 years old on that warm Tuesday afternoon and was riding my tricycle on the sidewalk in front of our house on Maplewood. All at once the fire siren began wailing and the church bells started clanging. Soon the bleating of automobile horns joined the din, all sounds that I was familiar with but not on a simultaneous and continuous basis. Pretty soon the town's 1942 Chevrolet fire truck came down Maplewood with its siren blaring. There were half a dozen old men riding on the truck (I say old men because most all of the young men were still in the armed services) and one of them had a fire hose in his hands. As they raced by our house he pointed the nozzle at me and gave me a good dousing of cold water. This startled me and I jumped off my trike and ran into the house to report to my mother what had happened. She tried to explain what all the excitement was about, but I was too young to understand the concept of victory over the Japanese. Mom and I went back outside where neighbors in small groups up & down the street were excitedly discussing the event.