Mel Price remembers V-J Day — Victory over Japan Day — vividly.

He was nestled inside a B-29 bomber as a radio operator for the United States Army Air Corps, playing his part in a massive showing of aerial force intended to convey to the Japanese that World War II was indeed history.

But the 89-year-old Price, now a native of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, doesn’t think anyone gives a damn anymore. It was 70 years ago, and that’s not exactly yesterday.

“What I’m thinking is: How many people today remember World War II?” he told The Post and Courier.

While disheartening, it’s somewhat of a valid point. Only 13,159 veterans from his home state who participated in the storied war are still around to tell their story. Or maybe Price is just being humble, downplaying his role in what was a major turning point for not only America but the future and wellbeing of human civilization.

Brave men and women like Price endured near-death experiences many times over during their service. Just in the Pacific theater alone, more than 100,000 Americans lost their lives between 1940 and 1945 while civilian and military personnel by the millions perished on all sides in Europe.

With this, what seem like fictitious tales were commonplace amongst the “Greatest Generation”, and Price’s was certainly no different.

This from The Post and Courier:

His first mission would be the worst, he recalled. Over Kobe and Osaka, heavy flak would leave 72 holes of various sizes in the airplane. And after dropping its bombs, the plane’s bay doors wouldn’t close, creating a fuel-draining drag that slowed the craft as the plane limped home.

The crew was forced to make an emergency landing on the recently captured island of Iwo Jima. It was just the beginning of an untold number of hazardous trips to the Japanese home islands.

“After seven (missions), I quit counting,” Price said. “Each additional one was meaningless in numbers due to General (Curtis) LeMay’s order to serve until war’s end.”

Perhaps collectively we can surprise the old military man from South Carolina, and remember World War II for a change. Give a damn about it. Thank those who sacrificed their lives so that tyranny and fascism could be successfully obliterated from the free world.

Happy V-J Day, America.