DELTONA -- The passage of time is hard for Tom Donohoe to comprehend.
"I can't believe that 67 years ago I was in Buckner Bay," said the 85-year old Orange City resident, referring to the bay in Okinawa, Japan, which was named in honor of U.S. Army Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr.
Donohoe, who served in the Marines during World War II, had received special training for a planned invasion of Japan. It was an attack that never happened.
The United States dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and on Sept. 2, 1945, Japan formally surrendered.
"There could have been some real nasty duty but we were very fortunate that they knew how to fly those planes and drop the bomb," Donohoe said.
"Thank God for (President) Harry Truman," he said, referring to Truman's decision to use the atomic weapons against Japan.
Donohoe was one of several World War II veterans who attended a ceremony at the Deltona Veterans Memorial Museum and Park on Sunday commemorating the 67th anniversary of V-J Day -- meaning "victory over Japan."
"Well, it saved my life," said Bob Balzer, a DeLand resident who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. "We were getting ready to go through the (Panama) Canal for the invasion of Japan and they turned us back just as we got in the canal. They dropped the second bomb ... That did it."
The guest speaker at Sunday's ceremony was Keith Mattison, a 90-year old Deltona resident who said he flew about 60 missions in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service.
Mattison regaled the crowd with stories from his missions during the war, including one that "still makes the hair stand up" about being shot at by the Japanese forces hiding in sugar cane fields.
Near the conclusion of Sunday's service, Mattison ceremoniously helped take down the national flag of Japan and raise the U.S. flag.
Bringing World War II veterans together for special events and ceremonies becomes more difficult as the years go by, said Balzer, 84, who also served in the Korean War.
According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, World War II veterans are dying at a rate of 740 a day.
"Unfortunately, when we come to these like once a year, you see we've lost a lot of friends," Balzer said.
The service ended with the crowd, which included veterans from World War II to Operation Desert Storm, holding hands while singing "God Bless America."
Donohoe, who joined the Marines at age 17, said there was a time he didn't think he'd make it home after Buckner Bay.
Standing side by side with his fellow World War II veterans on Sunday, the significance of the moment wasn't lost on him.
"This is a special day," he said.
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