College-aged future Legionnaire was aboard USS Missouri.
The August 1965 issue of The American Legion Magazine included a retrospective on the 20-year anniversary of the end of World War II. Included in a picture of the Sept. 2, 1945, signing aboard USS Missouri was Edwin Asimakoupoulos, then a 19-year-old Marine Corps corporal from Lewiston, Idaho. He is in the lower-right-hand corner, looking back at the camera.
According to his son Greg, Asimakoupoulos was part of the 50-strong Marine detachment, and “on the day of the surrender he was a security escort for the Russian general who signed on behalf of the Soviets. At the moment [the] picture was taken, he turned to see where a crashing sound came from. Apparently a Russian photographer was climbing on a ladder to get a better angle and lost his balance, dropping his camera. The unexpected sound startled my dad, who turned to look.”
Edwin spent a total of 16 months serving aboard Missouri. One of the aftereffects of his service was migraine headaches caused by a 16-inch gun that misfired during gunnery duty. He later joined The American Legion in Wenatchee, Wash., and Greg says he didn’t let poor health stop him from participating in veteran events. Whether it was docked in Washington state or Pearl Harbor over the years, Edwin jumped on opportunities to take family members on tours of the “Mighty Mo.”
“My father was extremely proud to have been an honor guard and security escort the day of the surrender ceremony,” Greg says. “He stood 20 yards behind Gen. MacArthur, and recounted body language and expressions of the various dignitaries who signed on behalf of the various countries.” Edwin Asimakoupoulos died in 2008. Chance immortalized him on film, and played a role in real life as well – according to Greg, his father had no idea he had been included in any pictures until 1965, when he was flipping through the retrospective while awaiting his turn at a barbershop.
- Honor & Remembrance