Celebration and Heritage

New Victory in Europe arrived on Tuesday, May 8, 1945 (VE Day). Original plans for official celebrations were canceled after President Truman asked for restraint while the war still raged in the Pacific. Classes at the University were called off at 3 PM that day, and a convocation program commenced on the quad. 

The mood was not so subdued when the news came on August 15th of the full and unconditional surrender by Japan. Hundreds descended upon Downtown Champaign and students ran to the Union. A young Stan Rankin recalled, “The big thing was Downtown Champaign. It looked like Times Square on New Year’s Eve. Everybody’s hugging and kissing each other and I got hugged and kissed and I was eleven years old .. [I] didn’t know who these people were but well, you take what you get!”

University classes were canceled Wednesday and Thursday by President Willard and jubilation ensued. Fuel and sugar rationing ended immediately and talk began to shift life after the war. 

However, it was also time to reflect and remember those who would never return home. In Champaign County, 182 men perished in the war. The first from Champaign County to lose his life was Leroy Sorrells of 508 W. Griggs Street, Urbana, who died at Pearl Harbor. The final death of the war came three months after VJ Day when 2nd Li. Roberts Spencer died in a military plane crash in the Philippines on November 19, 1945. 

From the University of Illinois, 19,362 alumni served in the war and 572 perished. In addition, 324 faculty members contributed to the war effort in government agencies, many in the field of science and industry.