The resulting image of the sailor and the 21-year-old dental assistant, captured for Life magazine by Alfred Eisenstaedt and called V-J Day in Times Square, became one of the most recognisable photographs of the 20th century and spawned a hunt for the subjects that lasted for decades. His photo was first published in Life magazine, buried deep within its pages.
Advertisement
“My mom had so many stories and so many experiences; this was just one of many”, Friedman said about the iconic photo.
CBS News said Ms Friedman would be laid to rest with her late husband, Mischa Elliot Friedman, at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Both of her parents died in the Holocaust, according to Lawrence Verria, co-author of The Kissing Sailor: The Mystery Behind The Photo That Ended World War II. As a sailor who saw many friends die in the war, he was overcome with emotion, tipsy and chose to kiss a nurse.
Friedman, who had been living at an assisted living facility in northern Virginia, died September 8, CBS reported, quoting her son, Joseph Friedman. “It was just somebody celebrating”. At least 11 men have claimed to have been the sailor in the photo, while three women, including Friedman, had prominent claims they were the nurse.
Greta Friedman was passionately kissed at the end of World War Two. It was years until Mendonsa and Friedman were confirmed to be the couple. “It wasn’t a romantic event”.
Photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt took the photograph of Friedman and the sailor, George Mendonsa.
You might think Mr Mendonsa’s date Rita Petry was unimpressed by his actions – but she can’t have been too upset, because years later she became his wife.
Friedman did not shy away from the photo or her role in it, her son said, adding that he said he believed she understood the argument that it was an assault but did not necessarily view it that way.
In a 2005 interview with the Veterans History Project, Friedman did not have anything complimentary to say about the event.
Advertisement
Born in Austria in 1924, she traveled to America in 1938 with two younger sisters, fleeing Hitler and the Nazis. “So when I saw the nurse I grabbed her, and I kissed her”.
