Eighty years ago, a Dawson, Minnesota, man was aboard the USS Missouri when Japan surrendered and signed a peace treaty, essentially marking the end of World War II. 

"I tell you, I joined the Navy when I was a senior in high school," Del Thielke said. 

As soon as he graduated in 1942, Thielke began a journey that put him in the middle of World War II. He was trained in aviation ordinance and found himself on an aircraft carrier in the South Pacific. 

"Loading airplanes with bombs, rockets and machine gun bullets," Thielke said. 

For more than four years, he was at war and at sea, rarely leaving the aircraft carrier. 

"We took back 16 islands. All the way to Tokyo, that's the whole South Pacific," Thielke said. 

When Japan was ready to surrender, Thielke got more good news. Out of the 1,500 men on his ship, he was the only one selected to be aboard the USS Missouri when the peace treaty was signed. 

"Eighty years ago, and here they were down here signing the peace treaty with Japan," Thielke said, showing off a photograph. "Here's where the treaty is being signed, right here and here's me right up here on top." 

Thielke's white cap can be seen in the upper deck. Recently, he received a letter informing him that a war memorial is being built in New Orleans that recognizes the treaty signing. 

The letter told Thielke that it's possible he's the only person still alive from that picture taken on the USS Missouri. 

"I'm the last one that's living that they can find. Isn't that something?" Thielke said. 

He credits his faith as the reason why he's still able to talk about that historic day, eight decades later. 

"I have been a strong Christian all my life, and I believe God was guiding me for four years on that carrier," Thielke said. 

Thielke was also part of the missions to Okinawa and Iwo Jima during World War II. 

The USS Missouri Memorial Association believes there are still six living crew members from the ship who may have witnessed the surrender ceremony.