Every hut had a pet dog or mascot. In letters home, Shemya was referred to as "our island Paradise." Life on Shemya was a stoic existence from beginning to end. But there were bright spots, such as the time the Ground Forces had a laugh on the Air Corps when a submarine was spotted by a patrol plane and reported sunk. A dead whale was found in the vicinity a few hours later.

On 13 August, men of the 404th Bomb Squadron climbed into their flying suits and took off in their planes to bomb the Kashiwabara staging area on Northern Paramushiro. They knew the end of the war was near, hoped against hope that this mission would be their last and that they could climb out of the planes on return to Shemya, knowing that they'd never again have to face enemy fire in this war. It was their last mission, and the last bombing mission flown from the Aleutians. The planes on the flight used airborne radar equipment to paste the Japs through the 10/10 undercast, with Major Gen. Brooks, CG of the 11th Air Force. One day later, on 14 August, the Japs officially gave in. Sirens on usually dignified Post Headquarters building blared for 10 minutes. Extra beer rations were given to all soldiers. The next two days were official holidays. Thus peace came to Shemya.

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