KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Eighty years ago today, Japan formally surrendered to Allied powers, bringing an end to World War II.

Among the thousands who witnessed the historic moment was a young sailor from East Tennessee — now 100 years old.

Gaylon Wilson, a Knoxville native and World War II Navy veteran, was just 19 when he stood aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945, watching the war come to a close.

Wilson has seen it all, even watching history unfold before his eyes.

"I fell off the ship...and I was in the middle of the ocean...that's when they signed the peace," he said. "I was the guard letting people come aboard. I didn’t have a big job — I was as low as you could be," he said.

The very same ship where Japan's leaders signed the "Japanese Instrument of Surrender." It m

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