3 3/4 x 1 1/8 in. segment of teak wood decking from the USS Missouri housed under glass and below a black and white photographic reprint, 9 1/2 x 7 in., "A New Beginning: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur signs the instruments of surrender 2 September 1945."  Decking and photograph matted and framed to 14 1/4 x 13 3/4 in. (decking and photograph unexamined outside frame).

The USS Missouri was commissioned in 1941. She was active in the Pacific Theater including in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Teak wood decking was used on the battleship to prevent sparks caused by metal-on-metal scraping, and as insulation. As the site of the surrender ceremony, the ship anchored at Tokyo Bay on 29 August 1945 and days later would host high-ranking Allied military officials as the Instruments of Surrender were signed.