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A man who claimed to be the navy man in an iconic photo of a kiss captured in Times Square at the close of World War II died on Sunday ( Feb. 17 ) at the age of 95 .
In the image , one of a series snapped by photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt for Life Magazine on Aug. 14 , 1945 , a U.S. Navy leghorn and a white - uniformed char are locked in what appears to bea passionate embrace . Though their names were not recorded at the fourth dimension , they are now thought to be George Mendonsa and Greta Friedman , the BBCreported .
As pedestrians watch, an American sailor passionately kisses a white-uniformed woman in Times Square to celebrate the long awaited-victory over Japan. This is an outtake from a series of photos shot by Alfred Eisenstaedt.
But Mendonsa and Friedman , who died in 2016 at the long time of 92 , were unknown to each other when he grab and kissed her . Though the picture was long regarded as celebratory and romantic , many view the non - consensual kiss as " a very public act of sexual assault , " Time Magazinewrotein 2014 . [ 6 Ways Sexual Harassment Damages Women ’s Health ]
Mendonsa pop off in the other morning after a raptus , come a fall at his assisted - living deftness in Middletown , Rhode Island , his daughter , Sharon Molleur , told theProvidence Journal .
When Eisenstaedt captured the photograph on V - J Day ( Victory over Japan Day ) , U.S. official had just announcedJapan ’s surrender — WWII was finally over . As the news show spread across the area , emotions were run in high spirits ; " the nation let loose , " according to Time .
Though this image was long considered “romantic,” the kiss was non-consensual.
Eisenstaedt was roaming Times Square with his Leica television camera and already had his eye on a jubilant - looking sailor when he " saw something white being grabbed , " he wrote in the book " Eisenstaedt on Eisenstaedt : A Self Portrait " ( Abbeville Press , 1985 ) .
" I turn around and click the moment the sailor kissed the nurse . If she had been dressed in a dark attire , I would never have taken the picture , " Eisenstaedt write .
Friedman — who was a dental assistant , not a nursemaid — had left her office to see the word about V - J Day , she tell theVeterans History Projectin 2005 .
" dead I was grabbed by a sailor , " Friedman said . " It was n’t that much of a buss , it was more of a exultant act that he did n’t have to go back [ to fight in the war ] , " she bestow .
In the 10 after the icon was demand , 11 mankind and three women came forward claiming to be the picture ’s subjects , but Friedman was " most likely " the fair sex in the image , agree toThe New York Times . Anddigital three-D mappingof Mendonsa ’s face in 2005 showed that his face was a about - perfect mate to the face of the man spellbind Friedman in the photo , The Times describe .
That moment was titled " V - J Day in Times Square , " but is also known as " The Kiss , " according to The Times . Featured on the cover of Life , the photograph is think to be Eisenstaedt ’s most famous image and is " a classic example of photojournalism , " The Times wrote inhis obituaryin 1995 . But it also raises troubling question about the strength of this non - consensual human action .
On that sidereal day , Mendonsa had " popped a few drinks " at a bar before heading to Times Square — with his girlfriend — when Friedman ’s white uniform caught his attention , he evidence theVeterans History Projectin 2005 . Mendonsa mistake her for a nursemaid , and explicate in the audience that he had " a soft spot for nurses . "
" It was the uniform that did it , " Mendonsa say . " I believe if that missy did not have a nurse ’s uniform on , that I never would have grab her . "
The incident certainly was n’t " a wild-eyed event " for Friedman , who was whelm by Mendonsa at the time , she said in her Veterans History Project consultation .
" He was very strong , he was just holding me blotto , " she said . " It was n’t my choice to be kissed . The guy just came over and kissed or seize . "
in the beginning published onLive skill .
