On the day his superiors signed the instruments of unconditional surrender in Tokyo, Major General Tomiyuki Yamashita surrendered in Kiangan, Ifugao. From there he was brought to Camp John Hay where he and other ranking officers spent the night billeted at the High Commissioner’s Residence (now known as the U.S. Ambassador’s Residence).

The surrender ceremonies had originally been scheduled to begin at 9:30 the next morning. But it was postponed to allow General Wilhelm Styer, commander of the Armed Forces in the Western Pacific Command (AFWESPAC) to return from Japan where he had gone to witness the surrender ceremonies at Tokyo Bay.

As they awaited the arrival of General Styer and his party, General Yamashita expressed his objection to the wording of the instrument of surrender. He also claimed that he did not consider himself authorized to represent the Japanese government. However, the squabbling stopped when the Japanese officers realized it was pointless in the face of the surrender of their own superior officers the day before.

Just before noon, the ceremonies began. The instrument of surrender was read. After which General Yamashita and Vice Admiral Okoochi attached their signatures on four copies of the document. General ____ Leavy,______ announced his acceptance of their surrender, then signed each copy using a different pen. Finally, he affixed the official seal of the AFWESPAC on the instruments of surrender. One copy was given to General Yamashita for transmission to the Japanese Imperial Government. The three other copies were retained by the Americans.

In a touching gesture of closure to leading figures in the war, General Leavy presented the fountain pens he had used to sign the instrument of surrender to General Styer, General Jonathan and General A. E. Percival, a British officer. Both General Wainwright and General Percival had just been released from captivity after having had to surrender their respective stands to the Japanese early in the war. The former in Bataan and the latter in Singapore. General Leavy retained the fourth pen for himself. Finally, he announced that the surrender ceremonies were completed. It had taken just sixteen minutes to bring World War II in the Philippines to an end.

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