If the sailor had worn a white uniform, the same. If she had been dressed in a dark dress I would never have taken the picture. I turned around and clicked the moment the sailor kissed the nurse. Then suddenly, in a flash, I saw something white being grabbed. As he searched for his subjects, he noticed a sailor "running along the street grabbing any and every girl in sight." In one of his books, the photographer recalled running ahead of him with his camera, but none of the pictures which were possible pleased him. The Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt took his Leica and joined the euphoric crowds of people, soon finding himself in the joyous tumult of Times Square. People immediately took to the streets of cities and towns all over the country to celebrate, giving vent to joy and relief. It was announced that, after a half-decade of conflict, Japan had surrendered and that the War in the Pacific-and thus the Second World War itself-was finally over. V-J Day in Times Square, also known as V-J and The Kiss, was taken on August 14, 1945. Sailor Who Kissed Woman In Iconic Times Square V-J Day Photo Dies At 95 | TIMEĪlfred Eisenstaedt and V-J Day in Times Square However, there's more to the image than meets the eye. "I had quite a few drinks that day and I considered her one of the troops-she was a nurse," George Mendonsa explained.Ĭapturing fleeting snippets that crystallize the hope, anguish, wonder and joy of life, this iconic photograph, came to define our times. It was there that he saw the nurse, later identified as Greta Zimmer Friedman. He said she reminded him of nurses on a hospital ship that he saw care for wounded sailors. He recalled him and his future wife, Rita, had joined the street celebrations after hearing people screaming that the war was over. George Mendonsa, who served in the Pacific during World War II, was on home leave when the picture was taken. His daughter, Sharon Molleur, said he had a seizure and fell in an assisted living facility in Middletown, Rhode Island. Mendonsa died Sunday, February 17th, 2019, two days short of his 96th birthday. Among them was George Mendonsa, who was finally confirmed as the sailor in recent years with the use of facial recognition technology. Over the years, many people claimed to be the people in the photograph. Since the photo was taken in the spur of the moment amidst rapidly changing events during celebrations, Eisenstaedt did not have an opportunity to get the name and detail and the identity of the man and woman has remained a mystery for quite some time. First published in the Life magazine under the title V-J Day in Times Square, it has remained one of the most iconic and famous images of the 20th century. Navy sailor grabbing and kissing a nurse on Victory over Japan Day in New York City's Times Square has become a cultural artifact of sorts. A photograph taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt which shows a U.S.
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