Sailor captured in iconic V-J Day Times Square kiss photo dies at 95

Sailor captured in iconic V-J Day Times Square kiss photo dies at 95
POSTED 9:18 AM, FEBRUARY 18, 2019, BY ASSOCIATED PRESS


New York City celebrating the surrender of Japan. They threw anything and kissed anybody in Times Square. (Lt. Victor Jorgensen, August 14, 1945/National Archives 80-G-377094)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The ecstatic sailor shown kissing a woman in Times Square celebrating the end of World War II died Sunday. George Mendonsa was 95.

Mendonsa fell and had a seizure at the assisted living facility in Middletown, Rhode Island, where he lived with his wife of 70 years, his daughter, Sharon Molleur, told The Providence Journal.

Mendonsa was shown kissing Greta Zimmer Friedman, a dental assistant in a nurse’s uniform, on Aug. 14, 1945.

Known as V-J Day, it was the day Japan surrendered to the United States. People spilled into the New York City streets to celebrate the news.

Mendonsa planted a kiss on Friedman, whom he had never met.

The photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt was first published in Life magazine and became one of the most famous photographs of the 20th century.

It’s called “V-J Day in Times Square,” but is known to most as “The Kiss.”

Several people later claimed to be the kissing couple. It was years before Mendonsa and Friedman were confirmed to be the couple.

Mendonsa served on a destroyer during the war and was on leave when the end of the war was announced. He has said Friedman reminded him of nurses on a hospital ship that he saw care for wounded sailors.

Mendonsa died two days before his 96th birthday. The family has not yet made funeral arrangements.

Friedman fled Austria during the war as a 15-year-old girl. She died in 2016 at the age of 92 at a hospital in Richmond, Virginia, from complications of old age.

She would have been part of the "Me too" movement had that happened now...

The good ole days....when you could go all "caveman" style on them..Kiss em...grab em by the pussy...
Back when they wanted that.....Society is going to hell....

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47287048?ocid=socialflow_twitter

Statue of WW2 kiss vandalised after US sailor's death
4 hours ago

The day after the death of the US sailor famously photographed kissing a stranger at the end of World War Two, a statue depicting the moment has been vandalised with graffiti reading "#MeToo".

Red spray paint was used to vandalise the "Unconditional Surrender" statue in Sarasota, Florida, on Monday, according to local police.

Police estimate the cost of the damage to be $1,000 (£765) "due to the large area that the graffiti covers".

The day after the death of the US sailor famously photographed kissing a stranger at the end of World War Two, a statue depicting the moment has been vandalised with graffiti reading "#MeToo".

Red spray paint was used to vandalise the "Unconditional Surrender" statue in Sarasota, Florida, on Monday, according to local police.

Police estimate the cost of the damage to be $1,000 (£765) "due to the large area that the graffiti covers".

In a 2005 interview for the Veteran's History Project, Greta Zimmer Friedman said it wasn't her choice to be kissed and that Mr Mendonsa "grabbed" her.

However, she made it clear the kiss was a "jubilant act" and "it was just an event of 'thank god the war is over.'"

After Ms Zimmer's death in 2016, her son told the New York Times his mother did not view the kiss negatively.

Sarasota Police Department shared the images of the defaced statue on social media, leading many to express their annoyance at the graffiti and the insinuation that the kiss was sexual assault.

"This statue represents a period in time that many today cannot relate to," one person wrote on Facebook. "The whole country was celebrating the end of a war - the whole country was together in that celebration."

Another commented: "Sexual assault is terrible but this was certainly not that situation. I can assure you this poor man who just died this week was not thinking of sexually assaulting a woman when he found out World War Two was over!"

Others suggested that the vandalism was disrespectful, given Mr Mendonsa's recent death.

"[It is] sad this happened, especially since this guy just died the other day at 95 years old."

However, others suggested the graffiti was justified.

One Facebook user urged the city to "take the statue down".

"It may be called 'Unconditional Surrender,' but the circumstance was 'Involuntary Surrender.' She didn't know that guy, he just grabbed her and kissed her," the commenter continued.

"[I'm] not saying this woman feels like a victim, but technically it was an unwanted, unsolicited sexual act. Plain and simple," another person wrote.

"The MeToo movement is also meant to educate and understand that women cannot continue to be seen as sex objects that men can just take when they want!"

The City of Sarasota confirmed the graffiti was removed on Tuesday morning.

The Wise And Powerful wrote:

HFB wrote:

She would have been part of the "Me too" movement had that happened now...

The good ole days....when you could go all "caveman" style on them..Kiss em...grab em by the pussy...
Back when they wanted that.....Society is going to hell....

Fucking vandals...Lock them liberal pieces of shit up..