75 years ago, Americans and the Allied forces around the globe cheered, cried, and danced with relief to celebrate the surrender of Japan and the end of World War II, the most devastating conflict in human history. But as this special edition from LIFE demonstrates in vivid detail, the road to Allied victory in the Pacific and the subsequent end to the war was tortuous and fraught with uncertainty: from the crushing blow of Pearl Harbor, through savage bloodbaths at sea and on teeming jungle islands, and culminating with an apocalyptic weapon that still casts a shadow over humanity. Told through the vivid photography that defines LIFE and accompanying text, LIFE The Road to VJ Day reminds readers of the sacrifices made decades ago, and how they still resonate today.

At the fall of Bataan on April 9 1942, over sixty thousand American and Filipino troops were rounded up by the Japanese and forced to march 65 miles from Mariveles, on the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula, to San Fernando, Pampanga, in Central Luzon. Anyone showing a slight weakness to walk was instantly bayoneted in the back. Estimates of the number of total deaths from the march range from 5,000 to 8,000. Thousands more later died from malnutrition and disease in the abject conditions of the Japanese POW camps. One of the fortunate survivors was Sergeant Bob Reynolds who penned his combat memoir Of Rice and Men in 1947. With a cool, philosophical perspective, he details the harrowing experience, from bitterly defending Bataan on starvation rations, through the many atrocities of the March, and finally his miraculous survival in Cabanatuan POW Camp and, later, in Manila's Bilibid Prison.

When Robert Gerard was five years old, his family moved from New York City to West Orange, New Jersey, a small town where it seemed that nearly everyone was employed by Thomas A. Edison, Inc. Little did he know that his father, an alien, had entered the United States illegally and changed his name. Gerard's story captures the era of the 1930s, the war years of the 1940s, and the fascinating experiences of a career soldier during the Korean and Vietnam wars. His story incorporates many personal insights, including humor, into descriptions of leadership, organizational behavior, and teaching.

The history of the Roanoke Valley during the 1940s has largely been unexplored until now. This significant decade bore witness to the birth of the local civil rights movement, the impact of World War II and the postwar boom in public projects and private development. The J-Class locomotives, Carver School, Woodrum Field, Victory Stadium, Carvins Cove, the Roanoke Star, the end of streetcars, and the advent of drive-in theaters all marked the decade. Crowds thronged to see the biggest names in radio, film and music at the American Legion Auditorium, the Academy of Music and the Roanoke Theatre, while Major League baseball and professional football brought exhibition games to Maher Field and Victory Stadium. Local historian Nelson Harris provides a detailed account of this dynamic decade along with 300 archival photographs.

At the age of sixteen Dennis Lingwood discovered that he was - and always had been - a Buddhist. This realization was to act as the motive force behind a life in which Lingwood, now better known as Sangharakshita, has played a major part in the introduction of Buddhism to the West. The Rainbow Road traces Sangharakshita's development from a childhood dominated by illness and books to homeless wandering and ordination as a Buddhist monk. The Rainbow Road is a remarkable and refreshingly candid record of a journey of spiritual exploration

This book tells the story of Thomas and Rose Ann Mould who lived in the hamlet of Gunthorpe, near Peterborough, England in the latter half of the 19th century. It traces their ancestry and the history of their children, grandchildren and all their descendants in countries as far apart as the United States, England and New Zealand. Family pictures and photographs of grave headstones complement the narrative and further documentation is provided by complete sets of family trees and a genealogy report. Also included is arrival information for those descendants who emigrated to the United States. Many initially settled in Aberdeen, South Dakota, though some later moved west to the San Diego area of California where many of them are buried. Others headed for Perkins County, South Dakota, an extremely remote area of the United States, and their harsh living conditions are described and documented. .

"The fascinating book features the life story of Dr Randle Manwaring,focusing particularly on his Regiment's fight to capture Burma towards the end of WW2As one of the founding Officers of the RAF Regiment, the author helped train and set up the Regiment from its inception in 1942.He saw active service with the Regiment in Burma, where the Regiment particularly distinguished itself but suffered heavy losses. Randle was present at the Japanese surrender in Rangoon and took the Swords from the Japanese Generals as they surrendered.The end of the War saw a return to a very different life requiring different skills. Guided by his strong Christian beliefs, Randle established a successful career in the City in Insurance Broking."

This book traces Sangharakshita's development from a childhood dominated by illness and books to homeless wandering and ordination as a Buddhist monk. It takes us from the streets of wartime London to the dusty villages, ashrams and mountain caves of India. Full of fascinating characters and keen insights, The Rainbow Road from Tooting Broadway to Kalimpong is as finely observed - and as entertaining - as a first-rate travel book.

Over the course of five years, the Reserve Officers Association of the United States--the nation's oldest such professional military organization--invited its members to write about their experiences in World War II. The response was an impressive outpouring of memories, now compiled here in an extraordinary record of courage, sacrifice, and commitment. Stories from 240 veterans--representing all theaters, ranks, and services--track the years of World War II month by month. From the young ensign's letter to his fianc e, describing his escape from the USS Cassin minutes before it explodes at Pearl Harbor, to the battle-seasoned colonel's account of his flyover at the peace-treaty signing aboard the USS Missouri, the stories give a human face to the moments of war, written by men and women who intimately lived those history-making days, on bombing missions and invasion duty, on front lines and the home front. Readers will meet a survivor of the USS Reuben James, sunk by a German U-boat before December 7, 1941, and eight D-Day invaders of Normandy, including Lieutenant Colonel J. Strom Thurmond, paratrooper. They will also meet a bodyguard to General Douglas MacArthur and the nurses who healed the fallen in huts on Bataan, the hospital ship Shamrock in the Mediterranean, and field hospitals in France. Here, too, are personal accounts by Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) and the battlehardened engineers of the Seabees in the Pacific. Other veterans tell of surviving the sinking of the troopship Leopoldville, when 750 Americans died in the English Channel on Christmas Eve, 1944; the horrific discovery of the Nazi extermination camps; and the tragic bombings near war's end of unmarked Japanese ships transporting U.S. POWs from the Philippines. Featuring photographs, a chronology, and historical introductions, this book--thanks to these stories by ordinary soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and nurses--is destined to become an enduring testimony to the American experience in World War II.