First American to land with Allied occupation troops in Japan. Colonel John S.

29 augustus 1945

First American to land with Allied occupation troops in Japan. Colonel John S. Lackey stands beneath the wing of his plane before taking off for Atsugi airfield where 150 U.S. communications and Air Force experts landed on Aug. 27, 1945, as the vanguard of Allied occupation troops who will land in force two days later under the leadership of U.S. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur. Supreme Commander for Allied forces in the Pacific. Colonel Lackey was the first American officer to land on the Japanese airfield, located 18 miles (28.8 km.) southwest of Tokyo. A group of 48 transport planes and Flying Fortresses carried the technical experts to the soil of Japan where they will establish communications facilities and enlarge the airfield in preparation for the later large-scale landings. Simultaneously Allied warships, led by the battleship, U.S.S. Missouri, steamed into Tokyo Bay where the surrender document will be signed aboard the Missouri by Japanese and Allied military leaders. This is a radiophoto sent by the U.S. from Guam.