“I’ll confess to nervous excitement, but I did sign in the correct places (one signer did not).  First copy signed with the Woo gift pen, and second copy signed with my old green Parker pen.” ¹ 

As a student of the Civil War and Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg, I had spent the better part of my adult life more interested in the surrender of Appomattox Court House in April of 1865, than the one where Admiral Nimitz played a key role.  However after reading the letter he wrote to his wife, I found myself traveling a road that would lead me to the rediscovery of one of the pens mentioned by Admiral Nimitz.

In reading the aforementioned letter, the words “Woo gift pen” sparked my interest.  Indeed, my first thought was, where the “Woo” pen and the “old green Parker” pen could be viewed.  My second thought was, what was the Woo gift pen or in other words, why had Admiral Nimitz referred to this pen in such a way?

A little further reading, most notably E.B. Potter’s fine biography of Admiral Nimitz, and some more independent research, soon revealed two things.  First, a knowledge of the Woo pen and its possible whereabouts, among U.S. historians and museum curators, were scant at best.  No one seemed to know where the pen was.  And second, the fascinating story surrounding why the pen was called the Woo pen had been long forgotten by most historians.  Thus, I resolved to look into both of these issues.  Meanwhile, I did find that the other pen, the “old green Parker”, could readily be accounted for, as it is on permanent display at the United States Naval Academy Museum.

In initiating my research on the Woo pen, the first thing I came to learn was how the pen got its name.  As it happened, at some point before Japanese capitulation was certain, Admiral Nimitz’s very close friend, Y.C. Woo, decided to present the admiral with a meaningful gift: a beautiful Parker 51 fountain pen.  According to an article that ran in the Oakland Tribune, as Woo presented the pen to the admiral, he expressed his hope that the admiral would someday sign the Japanese surrender documents with the pen.  As we know, Admiral Nimitz not only remembered his friend’s request, he used the Woo pen to sign the first copy of the Instrument of Surrender. ² 

Just one day after the surrender, in a letter to his wife, Admiral Nimitz made clear his plans for both of the pens he had used in the surrender ceremony.  The “old green Parker” would come home with him, to remain with the family (years later it was donated to the USNA Museum).  But in a remarkable gesture typical of the admiral’s magnanimous nature, he would return the Woo gift pen to his friend, Y.C. Woo. ³ 

The Admiral wasted no time in doing so.  On the day he returned to the mainland, he sought out his friend.  In returning the pen to Woo, Nimitz enclosed a letter that read:  “I take pleasure in sending you herewith the “Victory Pen” I used as Representative of the United States in signing the first copy of the formal Surrender terms today. This is the pen you presented to me in Berkeley this summer, ‘with best wishes and speedy victory.’   Your wishes for a speedy victory have been fulfilled.  With best wishes -- Sincerely Yours, C.W. Nimitz.” ⁴ For all intents and purposes, the story of the Woo pen appeared to have ended with its return to Y.C. Woo.

Having learned of the remarkable story that surrounded this pen, I was determined to find this rare historic artifact.  To me, my best chance of finding the pen was to find a surviving member of the Woo family.  And, it seemed that a good source of information on the Woo family might be the descendants of Admiral Nimitz.  Fortunately, the Nimitz Foundation, in Fredericksburg, Texas -- the Nimitz birthplace -- placed me in contact with Chester (Chet) Nimitz Lay, the son of Admiral Nimitz’s lone surviving offspring, Catherine (Kate) Nimitz Lay.  Chet was enthralled with the story of the Woo pen, and proved a staunch ally in my quest to find the pen.  His mother remembered the Woos, but had no specific knowledge pertaining to the pen; or to the whereabouts of the Woo family.  Sadly, the Woo and Nimitz families had not been in contact for over fifty years. ⁵ 

I turned my attention to locating the Woo family through genealogical resources.  Soon, I was able to locate contact information for a living grandson of Y.C. Woo.  On the day I relayed this information to Chet Lay, he had received a note from author Brayton Harris, whose recently published biography on Admiral Nimitz had placed him in contact with Chet.  Ironically, Harris had received a thoughtful email from one Paul Woo, a different grandson of Y.C. Woo than the one I had located through my research.  With this information, Chet contacted Paul Woo.

Little did we know that in reaching out to Paul Woo, we had struck gold.  Paul Woo’s role in locating the pen cannot be overstated.  Without his help, we likely would never have found the pen.  His deep and reverent interest in both his family’s and his nation’s history, his driving interest in locating the pen, and his willingness to reach out to uniquely provided points of contact for locating the pen were, quite simply, decisive.  The search was deeply meaningful to Paul, as it directly referred to the friendship shared between his grandfather and Admiral Nimitz.

After exchanging pleasantries and renewing family acquaintances, Chet asked Paul the operative question:  Did the family still have the pen?  Unfortunately, Paul was certain that they did not.  He did, however, offer a good lead to the pen’s probable location.

As fate would have it, Y.C. Woo was closely related, through his son-in-law, to the Nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek.  According to Paul, in 1946 Y.C. Woo had placed the pen in the care of his son-in-law and asked him to give the pen to the Nationalist Chinese government on behalf of the Woo family.  Paul suspected that the pen was still with the Nationalist Chinese. ⁶ 

Paul kindly provided a facsimile of the image of the Woo pen, and the letter that Admiral Nimitz had written to Y.C. Woo that had accompanied the pen.  In looking at the photo of the pen, I noticed that the Woo pen had an additional name.  The inscription on the pen read “Victory Pen”.  Admiral Nimitz had referred to this name in his letter to his wife about the surrender. ⁷ 

Meanwhile, the key question remained:  Where is the pen?  Was it in Taiwan, perhaps in a museum?  Did Chiang Kai-shek have living descendants, and if so, did they have the pen?  Or had the pen disappeared completely?

Once again, Paul Woo proved invaluable in solving the final chapter of our mystery.  He reached out to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago for assistance in locating the pen.  An official there found a relevant article on the Internet, written in Chinese, which had appeared in a People’s Republic of China publication.  This was a surprise, as we had thought that if any information on the pen would be found, it was likely to be from Taiwan instead of mainland China.

Regardless, once translated, the article provided pertinent information on an exhibition that had been held in Nanjing, China, in September, 2005 to commemorate the 1945 surrender of the Japanese forces.  At the end of the article, mention was made of an historic pen that had been on display at the exhibition.  Wording from the article seemed to quote from the Admiral’s letter to Y.C. Woo, when he returned the pen to his friend.  As the original letter traveled with the pen, it too was given to Chiang Kai-shek.  Paul was convinced that the pen featured at the anniversary commemoration was indeed the Woo pen.

If the pen was present in the Nanjing 2005 exhibition, was it in the historic Nanjing Museum?  Paul, who is employed at the University of Chicago Law School, was able to contact a Chinese student from the People’s Republic of China, who was enrolled at the same law school, to answer that question.  A perusal of the museum’s website proved unfruitful, so Paul’s friend offered to contact the museum directly.  Ultimately he was able to reach the museum’s curator -- and soon enough, Paul Woo had the answer.

As it turns out, the Victory Pen, better known to us now as the Woo pen, was indeed in the Nanjing Museum, where it remains in perfect condition.  After an eight month search, the quest to locate the Woo pen had ended successfully.  Unaccounted for and largely forgotten by most WWII historians and museum curators in the United States for nearly seven decades, the Woo pen and its significance in the history of World War II has finally been located.

There is an epilogue.  For this writer, Paul Woo, and Chet Lay, the collective wish was to see the Woo pen reunited with Admiral Nimitz’s green Parker pen for a special occasion:  the 70th anniversary of the Japanese surrender in World War II.  And where better to hold this reunion than on the deck of the Battleship Missouri Memorial?  Here again, fortune has smiled.  The U.S.S. Missouri Memorial Association, Inc. has embraced the notion of this historic pen reunion.  Representatives from the association have initiated efforts to bring this event to fruition by reuniting the pens used by Admiral Nimitz -- and those used by General MacArthur as well -- on the U.S.S. Missouri on September 2, 2015.

As I return to work in Gettysburg, in the realm of Civil War history, I am left to wonder if anyone has ever accounted for all the writing implements used by the likes of Generals Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Johnston, in the surrender ceremonies at Appomattox Court House and the Bennett Farm?  That may be another matter, for another day.

Sources:  Chester W. NImitz Papers, MS236, Special Collections and Archives Department, Nimitz Library, United States Naval Academy.  The Oakland Tribune, Oakland, CA, 4 October 1945, p. 13.  Facsimile image of the Woo pen and letter from FADM Nimitz to Mr. and Mrs. Y.C. Woo, 2 September, 1945 (provided by Paul Woo).  Potter, E.B. Nimitz.  Annapolis, MD:  Naval Institute Press, 1976, p. 397.  Email from Paul Woo, 14 February, 2014.  Author interview with Catherine Nimitz Lay, July 2011.  Life Magazine, 12 January, 1942.  Captain Michael A. Lilly, USN (Ret.).  Nimitz at Ease.  unpublished manuscript.

End Notes:1.  Chester W. Nimitz Papers, MS 236.  Facsimile copy of Nimitz letter to his wife, Sept. 2, 1945.  General MacArthur signed as the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces.

2.  Potter, p. 397.  Oakland Tribune, 4 Oct, 1945. Y.C. Woo was a prominent San Francisco banker, whom Nimitz came to know when he and his family lived in the Bay area.

3.  Chester W. Nimitz Papers, MS 236.  Letter from FADM Nimitz to his wife, 3 September, 1945.   Potter, p. 397.  This pen is a Parker Duofold.  According to Mrs. Nimitz, the admiral had purchased it from a supply boat for 50 cents.

4.  Facsimile of the Woo pen.  Letter, from FADM Nimitz to Mr. and Mrs. Y.C. Woo, 2 September, 1945, provided by Paul Woo, hereafter stated as the Nimitz-Woo letter.  FADM Nimitz likely returned the pen and letter in person to Woo on 2 October, 1945.  Lilly, Nimitz at Ease, p. 143.

5.  Author interview with Catherine Nimitz Lay, July 2011.  As of this writing, Mrs. Lay is still in remarkably good health, at 100.

6.  Y.C. Woo’s son-in-law was T.A. Soong, Madame Chiang Kai-shek’s brother.  The wedding of Woo’s daughter to T.A. Soong was covered in Life Magazine, 12 January, 1942.

7.  Nimitz-Woo letter.  The photo is marked with the engraving of the Admiral’s name and rank, done when Woo presented the gift.  The words “Victory Pen” may have been engraved by Woo at the same time, or possibly it was done later by the Admiral.

J.J. Harding is a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg National Military Park.  He is the author of the new book Gettysburg’s Lost Love Story. He also serves as a tour guide with Watermark in Annapolis, Maryland, where he conducts tours of historic Annapolis and the US Naval Academy.  He recently retired from a 33-year career in civilian service with the U.S. Navy, where, among other notable accomplishments, he developed and presented a motivational training program centering upon the life and times of FADM Nimitz, especially his leadership during WWII.  The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author, and not the policies of the U.S. Department of Defense or the U.S. Navy.

This article originally appeared in the September 2014 issue of the Gettysburg Experience Magazine.