Monday is Victory Day, a holiday known often in Rhode Island as Victory over Japan Day, a reference to the date Japan surrendered at the end of World War II. The holiday has long been controversial, with detractors calling it insensitive, and supporters saying it honors the contributions of World War II veterans. Rhode Island is the only state that still celebrates the holiday. 

Rhode Island resident Michael Steiner, who is running for a legislative seat in Scituate, was active in the Navy between 2005 and 2011. As a younger veteran, Steiner said he is open to changing the holiday. 

“There’s a lot of nostalgia associated with certain things just like that,” said Steiner. “I am not of that sort, and I’m open to a conversation if people are uncomfortable or want to see change, I’m all about that.”

From Steiner’s perspective, Victory Day represents the values of a past era.

“We were emerging as a world power and we had a clear and present enemy in the Cold War, the Soviet Union, and now things aren’t as black and white, and it’s harder to put our finger on things. So the easier for some people is to cling to the past,” he explained.

Recent efforts to change the holiday have failed to pass in Rhode Island’s General Assembly.