A triumphal parade: End of war on Islesford

From Hugh L. Dwelley's "A History of Little Cranberry Island, Maine," p. 170:

On July 3, 1944, a U.S. Navy blimp went down while searching for a German submarine near Mount Desert Rock. The wreck of the blimp was towed into Bunker's Head Cove where divers removed bodies and the gondola and the engines salvaged. Few herring visited the cove in late 1944 or for years after and many blamed oil that leaked from the blimp's engines.

Japan surrendered on August 10, 1945 and World War II was over. The Islesford community celebrated. Hillis Bryant rang the bell at the Congregational Church and islanders gathered to hear a talk of thankfulness from Ray Dwelley, church president. As the young people left the church, they piled onto Irving Spurling's wagon or fell in behind it. Irving, tipping his hat and urging on his plodding horse, Peggy, led a triumphal parade around the square. In the evening, Coast Guardsman Calvin Alley led a group to Sandbeach and burned an effigy of Tojo at the water's edge. To end the celebration, Mary Morse distributed fireworks to island youths. Islanders serving in the military were safe and would be home soon!