Dispatch Box: VE Day 80th Anniversary Commemoration

Image of a bulldog wearing a tuxedo and giving the peace/victory hand sign. Text: Celebrate VE Day! THURSDAY MAY 8

You are warmly invited to a special community celebration marking the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day on Thursday, May 8 from 11:50 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Latshaw Plaza (behind the Breakthrough sculpture). Highlights include a 10-minute bell peal from the historic St. Mary Aldermanbury, as part of a global commemoration, and a community tribute honoring members of the Greatest Generation from mid-Missouri. Parking is available behind Champ Auditorium and on West Seventh Street.

Come to enjoy

festive refreshments
WWII-era music
lawn games like croquet (weather permitting)
and a chance to meet ANCM's new British bulldog mascot, Victor.

We hope you'll join us for a broader global effort—mirroring services at Westminster Abbey in London—to remember the sacrifices of World War II and celebrate enduring peace.

Upcoming Events

May 8, 11:50 am: Victory in Europe Day 80th Anniversary celebration picnic (Latshaw Plaza)

Listen to Churchill and Truman's VE Day speeches

Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed thousands from the Ministry of Health building in London, proclaiming: "This is your victory. It is the victory of the cause of freedom in every land. In all our long history we have never seen a greater day than this. Everyone, man or woman, has done their best."

US President Harry S. Truman addressed the nation from the Oval Office to celebrate that, while the war in the Pacific was far from over, "the flags of freedom fly all over Europe." May 8th is also Harry Truman's birthday.

ANCM featured in BBC News: "The bombed London church that was reborn in the USA"

By Tim Stokes

As Londoners celebrated VE Day nearly 80 years ago much of the city in which they lived lay in ruins, not least the historic places of worship built by Sir Christopher Wren in the late 1600s in the aftermath of the Great Fire of London.

While some would be repaired or rebuilt, others remained as shells, transformed into small public parks surrounded by a single wall or tower. However, one had a very different ending, being moved brick by charred brick more than 4,000 miles away and rebuilt at a college in the US Midwest.

Why did St Mary Aldermanbury end up across the pond and what is it used for now?

Keep Reading

VE Day 80th Commemorative Pin

Celebrate VE Day with this limited edition enamel pin badge.

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