World War II vet has first-hand memory of VJ Day

Keith Arturburn

McCOOK, Neb. -- A McCook man, Keith Arterburn, was close to the center of action 71 years ago today when Japan signed a formal surrender agreement, bringing World War II to a close. Celebrated as V-J Day -- Victory in Japan -- the Japanese surrender cleared the way for United States military men and women to return to peacetime living.

Keith, a 3rd Class Radarman, had a front-row seat to the end of the war in Japan, as he tracked the Enola Gay on the flight that carried the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. Despite that devastating strike, for which Arterburn witnessed the mushroom cloud, another 27 days passed before the Japanese announced their surrender.

Arterburn watched the end of war action aboard the U.S.S. Bataan. He concluded 20 months and 3 days of U.S. Navy service in April of 1946, and returned to his home in Southwest Nebraska. Arterburn, who grew up in Imperial, moved to McCook in 1963 and spent the remainder of his business career here as a farm manager for the National Bank of Commerce of Lincoln.