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'Solemn but glorious hour': How Wheaton museum is marking the end of WWII in Europe 75 years ago

The images are some of the most uplifting in history, scenes of masses of humanity celebrating from Paris to New York to Chicago.

Crowds swarmed streets upon news of the Nazi surrender, the end of World War II in Europe after six long years of horrific fighting.

But the euphoria of V-E Day 75 years ago Friday could not overshadow the reality that war still raged in the Pacific and would continue for months.

"This is a solemn but glorious hour," President Harry Truman told the nation.

With that spirit, a military museum in Wheaton will mark the 75th anniversary of V-E Day, or Victory in Europe Day, as an occasion for both solemn reflection and 1940s-style revelry.

Above all else, the First Division Museum at Cantigny Park is paying tribute to a dwindling number of WWII veterans through a video salute in lieu of a major ceremony canceled because of the pandemic.

The museum received an overwhelming response for its request for "cheer for victory" videos, short but heartwarming snippets edited together for veterans to feel embraced and appreciated today, said Laura Sears, the First Division's public programs coordinator.

Families sent videos of old uniforms, ration books and black-and-white photos of their relatives, once young sailors holding babies. Couples swing-danced and waved flags. A fifth-grade class from St. Peter Lutheran School in Arlington Heights held up homemade signs as a show of gratitude. All in remembrance of the people who secured Nazi defeat.

"V-E Day means that the United States and its Allies had successfully defeated Adolf Hitler's vision of a global empire based on racial superiority, slavery, dictatorship and genocide," Sears said in another museum video.

Staff Sgt. Arthur Moore of Buffalo, N.Y., who was wounded in Belgium, stands on 42nd Street near Grand Central Station in New York on May 7, 1945, as New Yorkers celebrate news of V-E Day, victory over Nazi Germany. AP Photo

The museum will share the "cheer for victory" reel on social media at noon today. Honor Flight Chicago also will send it directly to veterans who have taken Honor Flight trips to their memorial in Washington, their families and those on its mailing list.

"The hope is that through social media, and this database, we'll be able to share the video with as many World War II veterans as we possibly can," Sears said.

Throughout the virtual commemoration, the museum will recall the elation of victory with a performance by the Irving Sisters, a trio singing their renditions of big band tunes and "The Star-Spangled Banner."

"The three ladies are wonderful and amazing and talented and were able to put together a special virtual performance with us with musicians from the safety of their homes," Sears said.

Overlooking no detail, the museum has a recipe for Three Dots and a Dash, a rum cocktail invented by WWII vet Donn Beach, the father of Tiki culture. The name refers to Morse code for the letter V.

Then there's a toast script to encourage people to host their own virtual gathering honoring the Allied forces, the women who worked to produce military equipment at home, and the homefront workers who bore the terrible cost of war.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I propose a toast to the soldiers lost in the line of duty during World War II. May we never forget their service," part of the script reads.

The museum tries to ensure students never forget the role of the Army's 1st Infantry Division on V-E Day. An at-home curriculum resource looks back on the division's liberation of concentration camps and the war films of Cpl. Samuel Fuller, who was ordered by his captain to document the burial of Holocaust victims in Czechoslovakia.

"When the prominent leaders of the town denied knowledge of the camp, Captain Richmond ordered the men in the town to dress the bodies of the dead prisoners and give them a decent burial, 'so their exit from this world would have some kind of dignity,'" historians wrote.

Images: 75th Anniversary of VE Day

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