| Victory Day | |
|---|---|
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:V-J_Day_Times_Square_NYWTS.jpg) Crowds celebrating V-J Day in Times Square | |
| Also called | Victory Over Japan Day, VJ Day, World War II Memorial Day (Arkansas)[1] |
| Observed by | United States (Rhode Island, U.S. Space & Rocket Center[2]) |
| Type | (1) Rhode Island state holiday, state offices closed (2) Space Center commemoration |
| Date | (1) Second Monday in August (Rhode Island and US Space & Rocket Center) (2) August 14 (Rhode Island, 1948-1966[1]) |
| 2023 date | August 14 |
| 2024 date | August 12 |
| 2025 date | August 11 |
| 2026 date | August 10 |
| Frequency | annual |
Victory Day is a holiday observed in the United States state of Rhode Island with state offices closed on the second Monday of August. Furthermore, in 2017, WPRI-TV claimed that Arkansas (which stopped celebrating the day in 1975) and Rhode Island were the only two states to ever celebrate the holiday, though Arkansas's name for the holiday was "World War II Memorial Day."[1]
The holiday celebrates the conclusion of World War II and is related to Victory over Japan Day in the United Kingdom and regions of the United States. Rhode Island retains the date as a formal state holiday in tribute to the number of sailors it sent and lost in the Pacific front. More than one in ten of the states' residents served in the war, and 2,340 (671 Navy or Marines)[3] were killed. In 2015,[4] the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama honored 500 veterans on the 70th anniversary of the end of the war.[5]
- ^ a b c Nesi, Ted (August 13, 2017). "Here's why Rhode Island is the only state that observes Victory Day". WPRI-TV. Archived from the original on 2017-08-15. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
- ^ "Victory Day Celebration".
- ^ "World War II Casualty Cards, 1941-1945 - Rhode Island Department of State Archives". catalog.sos.ri.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
- ^ "Victory Day in the United States". timeanddate.com.
- ^ McCarter, Mark (August 11, 2015). "'Uncommon valor' of WWII veterans celebrated at Victory Day". al.