The iconic 'kissing sailor' symbolic of the end of World War II is no more. The U.S. sailor Glenn McDuffie, who kissed a nurse while cheering Japan's defeat during World War II, passed away in Texas at the age of 86, Friday.
Commonly known as the 'kissing sailor,' McDuffie, who was 18 then, was forever immortalised in the iconic photo that captured his passionate kiss with a nurse, a complete stranger to him, August 14, 1945.
The V-J Day in Times Square photo was taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt and was included in the Life magazine to celebrate Victory over Japan Day, the term given on the day the Japanese surrendered during WW II.
The true identity of the couple in the photo remained controversial as even Eisenstaedt did not get their names. Some men also claimed to have been the sailor in the photo. But the Houston Police Department's forensic artist supported the claim and concluded in 2007 that McDuffie is the kissing sailor in the iconic photo, reports the Examiner.
The U.S. Naval Institute says a man named George Mendonsa was the real kissing sailor in the photo and the name of the nurse was Greta Zimmer, who was a dental assistant then.
In an interview with the Associated Press, McDuffie said he was switching trains in New York when he was told that Japan had surrendered. "I was so happy. I ran out in the street," said McDuffie, then 18 and on his way to visit his girlfriend in Brooklyn. And then I saw that nurse," he said. "She saw me hollering and with a big smile on my face. ... I just went right to her and kissed her."
"We never spoke a word," he added. "Afterward, I just went on the subway across the street and went to Brooklyn."
