U.S. Marines pose for a group photo on the decommissioned battleship USS Missouri at Ford Island, Hawaii, April 3, 2025. The USS Missouri is known as the site of Japan’s formal surrender in World War II. (Jose Villasenor/U.S. Marine Corps)
(Tribune News Service) — A day of profound global significance—the formal end of World War II—occurred on Sept. 2, 1945, aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay when Japan officially surrendered in what signaled a hard-won hope for lasting peace.
Eighty years later, the Battleship Missouri Memorial in Pearl Harbor is inviting visitors to relive that history through Pathway to Peace: USS Missouri’s World War II Experience, an immersive exhibit that opened Sunday.
Presented by the Bob & Dolores Hope Foundation, the exhibit traces the Missouri’s journey from its commissioning at the Brooklyn Naval Shipyard to its pivotal role in the Pacific Theater and the signing of Japan’s surrender. Through technology, personal narratives and artifacts, it highlights both the ship and the sailors who served aboard it.
“It’s an exhibit we’ve been working on for a couple of years now to try and tell a story as best we can, and use available technology to make it interactive and fun and exciting without losing sight of the story itself,” Mike Carr, president of the Battleship Missouri Memorial, said.
“The purpose of that is to really tell people the story of the ship and why this ship is so famous, but also tell it from the standpoint of the sailors and crewmen who served on the ship, ” he said. “We’ve got eight crewmen (Edgar Buffman, John DeLeo, Doyle Boothroy, Judge Davis, Lee Broussard, Robert Kennedy, Robert Somrak and Thomas Schoenecker ) who actually witnessed the end of the war on Sept. 2, 1945, who are attending our ceremonies this weekend.”
In total, about 25 World War II veterans attended the unveiling, including those who served on the Missouri as well as others who served in different capacities. A gala event will honor them all, and the main event Tuesday is expected to draw roughly 1, 000 attendees.
Upon entering, visitors encounter an immersive display showing the Missouri’s history in two minutes—from construction in New York to its launch on Jan. 29, 1944, and through key wartime events culminating in Japan’s surrender.
Afterward, guests can explore an interactive touchscreen station featuring interviews with the last surviving crewmen. Visitors can tap on any of the eight veterans and select questions ranging from daily life aboard the ship to their memories of Sept. 2, 1945.
The veterans can be asked such questions as what it was like to serve in the Navy or their memories of that day, and hear the answers directly from them.
Artifacts, photographs and displays covering the interwar period up to the Korean War complement the interactive experience.
Carr emphasized the importance of conveying the human side of history: “The sacrifice endured by what we call the greatest generation is a story that you can never stop telling.”
Among the attendees was Larry Frothingham, 80, who traveled from St. Charles, Mo.
He is the son of Lt. Everett Frothingham, one of Missouri’s scout plane pilots who tragically died in a plane crash on Feb. 10, 1945, at Ulithi Atoll, leaving behind a pregnant wife and a 1-year-old daughter.
Frothingham described his father’s role aboard the Missouri: “He was a pilot on the back of the Missouri. There were two pontoon planes, and they were catapulted off the ship. He was a pilot that actually went out to the different islands and surveyed them, came back and reported to the ship the Japanese movement, and all that kind of stuff.”
Growing up without his father, Frothingham said he struggled to learn about him.
“I was born two months after he died. My mother was pregnant with me when he died, but she never said a word about him. She never told me anything about him. So I had a hard time finding out what he was like,” Frothingham said.
“That’s why I joined the USS Missouri Association.”
Through the association, he met his father’s former crew members.
“I met the guys that worked on his plane, and they said that he was a gentleman—a perfect guy,” Frothingham said.
“They said he had no problems with anything or anyone.”
Frothingham recalled returning to the ship about 15 years ago for a private tour, during which his father’s former crew members showed him his father’s bunk and the chair where he used to get haircuts.
“I sat in his chair. I started crying. Just knowing that he sat in his chair and got haircuts, it was so emotional,” he said.
He reflected on the significance of seeing his father’s story recognized in the exhibit: “It really makes me feel good. It makes me feel his service to our country was worthwhile. He did it for all of us. He was really a great guy. My father served, I mean, he died for me so I could be here.”
Edgar Buffman, from Media, Pa., served as a gunner’s mate second class from 1944 to 1946.
He remembered overseeing 25 men operating a 20-millimeter battery and described the intensity of wartime service, including Japanese kamikaze attacks on the Missouri, noting that the experience forced young sailors to mature quickly at just 19 years old.
Buffman kept a diary during his service and believes the exhibit captures the experiences of his generation. “The exhibit is great, absolutely fantastic. It just gives a history of veterans of World War II,” he said. “I think it’s wonderful to remember the people that have passed and the ones that are still here.”
Buffman encouraged everyone, especially families of service members who never returned home, to visit the Missouri. He added that younger generations can gain a sense of life aboard the ship, seeing firsthand the environment sailors lived in and understanding why the ship was considered home by those who served.
Curator Frank Clay said the exhibit was designed to focus specifically on the Missouri and its crew, rather than other ships or theaters of World War II. The chronological layout of Pathway to Peace mirrors the ship’s real-life journey across the Pacific, from New York to the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal, on to Hawaii and finally to the Western Pacific battlefields.
The exhibit leads visitors through a timeline that culminates with the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay, followed by displays covering the interwar years. Clay noted that designing the exhibit presented logistical challenges because the ship’s interior spaces are narrow and confined, leaving few areas suitable for display. To address this, the museum selected a previously used exhibit space and worked with Albuquerque-based design company IDM to incorporate interactive elements while keeping the focus on the experiences of the crew.
The exhibit features three main interactive elements : an immersive theater showing the Missouri’s service in two minutes, the interview station with surviving crew members and a touchscreen collection viewer presenting historical documents, letters, photos and a crew database. These components allow visitors to form personal connections with specific sailors and Marines.
The exhibit also highlights acts of humanity amid the chaos of war, such as Capt. William Callahan’s insistence on giving a Japanese kamikaze pilot a proper burial at sea following the Battle of Okinawa.
Carr emphasized the importance of passing these stories on to young audiences.
“Fifth grade is the American history year for most Hawaii public school kids, and so that’s where we kind of focus our attention. We make sure that everybody that comes to the ship, whether it’s for a STEM program or otherwise, gets a history lesson as well.”
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