Heartache and joy collided on August 15, 1945. News that Japan would surrender brought an end to years of families losing loved ones and, for the lucky ones, families reunited.
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Looking back at the coverage of the day in The Examiner, you are instantly transported to feelings of jubilation and relief.
"Mainland capitals go delirious with joy at great news" and "Streets crammed with singing, shouting, dancing crowds" were some of the headlines.
A small snippet even highlighted "Four victory babies" or "peace babies" who were born in Launceston. The paper went on to suggest the names Victor or Victoria would be appropriate.
While the celebrations were warranted, as the many soldiers returned home, there would have been a realisation that there would never be a return to normal or what life was like before 1939.
Instead, communities had to create a new normal alongside the knowledge their friends had experienced the harrows of war, lost their best mates in battle and were subjected to shocking treatment as prisoners of war.
The end of war is a problematic crossroads to comprehend and a concept that is not foreign to the current generation.
Unfortunately, peace has not lasted, and similar experiences continue to be revisited by those involved in Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf conflicts and Afghanistan.
The quest for peace relies on us commemorating and acknowledging previous sacrifices. It's how we recognise and appreciate that our lives have improved and individual freedoms afforded to us because of the greatest sacrifice of them all - life.
On this day, which marks 75 years since bells rang through Launceston to signal the end of a bloody war, we take the time to thank our past and current service men and women.
While we hear of many recounts of bravery, there would be moments of the war that will remain unsaid - reserved for those who didn't live to tell their stories and those who survived by chose to never share.
Lest we forget.
