Remembering VJ Day
Today commemorates the 63rd anniversary of VJ Day. At 6:10 p.m. EDT on August 14, 1945, the United States received word of Emperor Hirohito’s surrender and declared Victory in Japan - VJ Day - effectively ending WWII. As the news spread, celebrations began throughout the world.
One of the most famous photographs ever published by Life - VJ Day in Times Square - was shot on August 14th, 1945. Alfred Eisenstaedt was in the square taking candids when he spotted a sailor “running along the street grabbing any and every girl in sight,” he later explained. “I was running ahead of him with my Leica looking back over my shoulder… Then suddenly, in a flash, I saw something white being grabbed. I turned around and clicked the moment the sailor kissed the nurse.”
The participants in the kiss were never confirmed by Eisenstaedt, whose notes on the photo were not found until after his death in 1995. Life, however, accepted nurse Edith Cullen Shain’s claim to the honor in a handwritten letter to Eisenstaedt 35 years later. Shain was 27 on VJ Day.
Over 20 men have claimed to be the sailor but none has been positively identified. In August 2005, a team of volunteers at the Naval War College claimed the sailor was George Mendonça of Newport, Rhode Island. And Shain once said she believed the man to be former New York City police detective Carl Muscarello, although she later recanted that statement.
But Houston Police biometrics expert Lois Gibson pegged the sailor in the picture as Glenn McDuffie after conducting a thorough forensic analysis in which she conclusively identified McDuffie and excluded Mendonça and Muscarello.
Doug
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There is a whole generation that doesn't even know what V-J Day is about, what it signifies, why it is important. My father fought in the Pacific during WWII and we grew up understanding what it meant to him and how it affected our family.
It is important that we remember why we fought and the sacrifices our fathers made to extinguish the spread of fascism. Thank you for posting this remembrance.
A good post Doug! I dare say that everyone knows this photo, it is that famous. Many however don't know that it became a symbol of the day WWII ended with the surrender of the Japanese. Most people know that it was the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought us into the war but as many don't remember that on this day we ended it. It was a great day in our history and we should all remember those who sacrificed to bring about our victory.
We have that photo, a poster of it, hanging in our game room. I knew it had to do with the ending of World War II but I didn't know the whole story. Thanks for sharing it!
There are fewer and fewer of us that served during WWII. It is important that our grandchildren and their children remember why we fought and died so that, God willing, there will never be a WWIII. Thank you for helping keep the flame burning. Never forget.
Thank you for the history of that famous photo. I knew it was taken the day the war ended but I never knew about the people in it.
I wonder what kind of forensics were used to conclude the guy's identity. Having worked in forensics for several years, I think they would have to have had several photos taken around the same time of a sailor who claimed to be the one in the picture along with things like hair color, height/weight etc. so they would have something to work with. Same with excluding the other two guys.
I also wonder if Shain and McDuffie ever met again in later years to talk about that day. I think that would make a great TV special.
Happy V-J Day and a snappy salute to all the guys who fought in WWII!
we SALUTE all WWII heroes for their service and sacrifice!! May God bless !!
Thank you and God bless to the veterans who served, fought, and died in the Pacific in WWII, also those who did so in the ETO, all aspects of the Allied forces of WWII, and veterans of the military of all generations who served this great nation. Thank you and God bless to all the families and friends of our veterans, and all supporters of the homefront as well.
When the war in Europe ended my dad was ready to ship out for the Pacific. Luckily the two A bombs ended the war a lot earlier than it might have otherwise. Saved millions of lives as well. Every WWII vet is a true American hero.God Bless them all.
My grandfather was the same way. I would have never been here!
My father left Pearl Harbor on December 5, 1941 with the aircraft carriers. IM could of had one less poster. Many less if we had had to invade Japan.