The official end of World War II occurred during a formal ceremony held on the deck of the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Representatives of the Japanese government and military signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender in the presence of Allied commanders. General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Allied Commander, presided over the ceremony. He famously declared, 'It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past.' The location of the ceremony was symbolic; the USS Missouri was named after the home state of President Harry S. Truman, and it was anchored near where Commodore Matthew Perry had first 'opened' Japan to the West in 1853. This date is celebrated as V-J Day (Victory over Japan Day).