V-J Day in Times Square
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About
V-J Day in Times Square (also known as The Kiss) is a photograph of an American sailor kissing a woman in a white dress while standing in the middle of Times Square in New York City.
Origin
On August 14th, 1945, photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt took a photo of a Mendosa and Friedman kissing in Times Square in celebration of the United States victory over Japan, which subsequently ended World War II. The Photo was published a week later in LIFE magazine in a section called "Victory Celebrations". This photo would later become the most famous images published in LIFE as well as one of the most famous images of WWII in general.
Another photo of the same scene from a different angle was captured by photographer Victor Jorgensen, a U.S. Navy photo journalist. This image was published in the newspaper The New York Times the next day and was titled Kissing the War Goodbye Jorgensen's image falls under public domain, while Eisentaedt's is protected by copyright.[1]
Kisser's Identity
Although the kisser's were verified as Mendosa and Friedman in the book The Kissing Sailor [2], many people have claimed that they were the subjects of the photo. In August of 1980, Life Magazine requested the kissers make contact to establish their identity, resulting in 11 men and three women claiming to be the stars of the photo.[1] Mendosa was verified based on his scars and tattoos identified by volunteers from the Naval War College in August of 2005. The team was aided by photographic analysis provided by the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories and a testimonial account by photograph analysis expert Richard M. Benson.
Glenn McDuffie was one of the people who claimed to be the Kisser in the photograph. The British tabloid The Daily Mail published an article in 2007 claiming that forensic evidence confirmed that McDuffie was the one in the photo[3]. News reports of his passing in March 2014 often acknowledged that he claimed he was the kisser, or outright stated he was.[4][5]
Search Interest
External References
[1] Wikipedia – V-J Day in Times Square
[2] US Navy Institute – The Kissing Sailor
[3] The Daily Mail – Mystery sailor in famed VJ day kiss in New York's Times Square identified
[4] New York Daily News – "Glenn Edward McDuffie, who long claimed to be sailor in iconic Times Square ‘kiss’ photo at end of WWII, dies ":http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/sailor-wwii-kiss-photo-dies-article-1.1721784
[5] BBC – US Navy veteran in iconic WW2 kissing photo dies
Additional Note: Possibility of legitimate entry despite KYMIRL tag. Currently WIP to meet Entry Standards.
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