Boy's pancake breakfast delayed the end of WWII

0 Comments | USA TODAY, March, 2006 | by Patrick Gavin

Whenever someone mentioned pancakes, without fail Thomas E. Jones would immediately think of Harry Truman.

It's an odd word association for sure, but it's understandable given Jones' unusual place in our nation's history.

On Aug. 14, 1945, Jones, a 16-year-old messenger in Washington, D.C., was entrusted to deliver to the White House the cable announcing Japan's surrender to the United States to end World War II.

Unaware of his cargo's import, the boy, in cavalier teenage fashion, put work on hold to eat pancakes at a diner, hang out with his friends and flirt with waitresses.

Later, he left his pancakes to complete the job only to be pulled over en route to the White House by a police officer, who berated the boy for making an illegal U-turn....