Friedman, 92, died of pneumonia, her son, Joshua Friedman, said. In Times Square in New York City, an ecstatic sailor kissed every female he could reach, regardless of their ages. Over the years there were a number of people who claimed to be the sailor and the nurse in the photo and it was not until the 1980s that they were confirmed to be Ms. Friedman and Mr. Mendosa. In it Goebbels was glaring at the camera; moments earlier, Eisenstaedt had captured Goebbels, grinning, and some photography enthusiasts have speculated that in the interim Goebbels learned Eisenstaedt was Jewish.
Advertisement
Greta Friedman will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery alongside her late husband. She is survived by her two children; grandchildren Caroline Friedman of Glen Allen, Va., and Michael Friedman of San Francisco, Calif., and several nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. It became one of the most famous photographs of the 20th century.
On Aug. 14, 1945, the then-21-year-old dental assistant – not a nurse as was commonly believed – was captured on film during a sudden embrace with an American sailor as she walked midtown Manhattan amid reports Japan had surrendered days after the US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As reported in Military Times, Friedman stated that she still keeps in contact with Mendonsa and “exchanges Christmas cards with [him] every year”.
The woman who appeared in an iconic 1945 photograph that has become an emblem of victory in World War II has died at the age of 92.
Joshua Friedman told The News that his mother was sympathetic to that view, but held no ill will against Mendonsa.
In 1980, Life ran the photo again, and was again deluged with claims from people saying they were the ones in it. “It was just somebody celebrating”.
Friedman was born in Austria, and both of her parents were killed in the Holocaust. “It wasnt a romantic event”.
The sailor didn’t give Friedman his name, and Friedman, 21 at the time, returned to her office, where her bosses canceled appointments for the rest of the day to celebrate. She and her sister managed to escape from Austria and got to the United States as a teenager.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign says the Democratic presidential nominee left a 9/11 anniversary ceremony in NY after feeling “overheated”.
Advertisement
Troopers are investigating a deadly crash in Union County.
