LongBeachReport.com | LBReport.com | "Spirit of '45/VJ Day" Celebrated w/ Music & Dancing @ El Dorado Park Senior Center

(Aug. 16, 2011) -- More than 125 people stepped back in time 66 years to the day -- April 14, 1945 -- when President Harry Truman announced the Empire of Japan had offered its unconditonal surrender, ending World War II.

On April 14, 2011, couples danced at the El Dorado Senior Center to the same swing tunes that brought them to their feet when their hips and knees were younger, as they marked The Spirit of ’45.

Photo via Councilwoman Schipske

Loni Hope & Mike Jonas. Photo credit: Diana Lejins

The event was organized by Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske, who said she made a commitment to a rather famous nurse being kissed by a sailor in New York’s Times Square,

Right: Public domain photo by Navy photojournalist Lt. Victor Jorgensen. (Alfred Eisenstadt's famous LIFE magazine photo is from a slightly different angle and copyrighted)

"That nurse was Edith Shain, who envisioned a national day of remembrance to honor the legacy of the ‘ordinary heroes’ of her generation," noted Schipske. In August 2008, Ms. Shain visited Long Beach to participate in an event aboard the Queen Mary (a grey-painted troop ship in WWII). That event was organized by a nationwide group -- Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive -- to mobilize young people to preserve the legacy of the WWII generation. At that time, Ms. Shain met Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske, who'd authored a book on Rosie the Riveter in Long Beach.

Aug. 2008: Ms. Shain meets Councilwoman Schipske. Photo source: Digital Clubhouse Network

Ms. Shain passed away in June 2010 at age 91, but Councilwoman Schipske recalls "she urged me to make certain to keep celebrating ‘The Spirit of ’45.’ Congress voted unanimously to observe a Spirit of 45 Day on the second Sunday of every August."

Sunday’s event featured The Johnny Klecker Band, which played so well it had the dance floor filled. Even Schipske felt compelled to, as she put it, "cut the rug."

Photo credit: Diana Lejins

Churck Shirley on trumpet. Photo credit: Diana Lejins

There was so much spirit that a different sort of spirit was conjured up (sort of.) President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (actor Peter Small) paid a visit to the event and spoke about his war time years.

Actor Peter Small portrays FDR (with dog "Fala"). Photo credit: Diana Lejins

It was an event that would have made Ms. Shain proud. "Her legacy will live on if we can put on events like this every year," Councilwoman Schipske said.

Vitas Hospice provided food and decorations for the Aug. 14 event.

The remembrance started Saturday, August 13, with the placing of a wreath at the World War II memorial at Rosie the Riveter Park, at Clark Avenue and Conant Street. The wreath was displayed all weekend, thanks to Forest Lawn Memorial Parks.