American servicemen of the 345th Bomber Group crowd an embankment at Ie Shima to observe a cross-marked aircraft on the airfield below, an image likely connected to one of the closing chapters of World War II in the Pacific. In August 1945, Japanese envoy aircraft, repainted white with green crosses in place of national markings, landed at Ie Shima carrying delegates en route to Manila to arrange the formal terms of Japan's surrender, an event witnessed firsthand by hundreds of curious Allied troops stationed on the island. Project: 218235