Jubilant St. Louisans charge through piles of paper on Olive Street downtown on the morning of August 14, 1945, the day Japan surrendered to end World War II. Unofficial reports of the surrender were broadcast over St. Louis radio stations about 2:30 a.m., and people who bothered to go to work that morning threw reams of paper out the windows of their office buildings. President Harry Truman confirmed the surrender at 5 p.m. central time. The United States had been fighting in World War II for three years and nine months.