SIOUX FALLS, SD (Dakota News Now) – On Saturday, people across the country had the opportunity to celebrate and honor the USS South Dakota, built in the 1910s.

Dakota News Now had the opportunity to speak with Leon Gee, one of the ship’s original World War II crew members.

He spoke about his time in service and what this day means to him.

“It’s kind of humbling that everyone’s probably coming over to hear what I have to say or whatever,” Gee said.

The battleship USS South Dakota was in Tokyo Bay, Japan, during the signing of the surrender. He joked that the crew thought the surrender would take place on their ship before President Truman decided to do it on the USS Missouri in honor of his home state.

The USS South Dakota has been named after three different ships: a World War I armored cruiser (ACR 9), a more recent attack submarine (SSN 790), and the battleship on which Gee served (BB 57). He was the only crew member from that ship present on Saturday.

“I’ve been going here since 1990 and over the years more and more of my crew members either don’t come or can’t travel there,” Gee said.

Today we had the opportunity not only to honor Gee, but also to honor those on the ships who never returned. Over one hundred people from the USS South Dakota died in World War II.

“They had no children, they never got married, they couldn’t go to the barbecue or the fair today, and they lost their parents, and that multiplies by thousands,” said Matt Michels, a former lieutenant governor of South Dakota and a Navy veteran.

Michels told Dakota News Now that it’s important that people try to attend events like this since we’re seeing less and less of the Greatest Generation.

Other veterans at the event handed out stickers calling for action in November.

They are pushing for South Dakotans to become more involved in the election – a crucial trend following the less than stellar voter turnout in the last primary elections.

The stickers read “Vote in Honor of a Veteran,” which only two-thirds of people typically do in the general election; but only 17% of South Dakota voters did so in the June primary.

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