Times Square’s V-J Day Iconic Photo Nurse Kissed By Sailor Dies

The nurse who was kissed by a sailor in Times Square on 14th August 1945 in one of the most iconic photographs of 20th century died Thursday in Virginia at the age of 92.

Greta Zimmer Friedman recently contracted pneumonia and was ill for long time. 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.

During the World War II she worked as a dental assistant on Lexington Ave and on the morning of the iconic photographed day she heard rumors about surrender of Japan after United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Friedman entered Times Square in the afternoon to investigate and found herself grabbed and kissed by sailor George Mendonsa out of overjoy by the end of WWII.

Noted Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt snapped the moment which was published later titled “V-J Day in Times Square.”

Friedman was born in 1924 in Australia and traveled to American with two younger sisters in 1938. In her early days she was involved in the New York theater community. She studied costuming at the New School’s Dramatic Workshop.

She married doctor Mischa Friedman in 1956. In 1960s she first saw the iconic photo and contacted Life magazine. In 1980 she was asked to come forward along with the sailor by the magazine, but the two were unable to prove themselves even after several claims.

Lawrence Verria authored a book titled “The Kissing Sailor: The Mystery Behind the Photo that Ended World War II” in 2012 and both were proved to be indeed in the iconic phhoto.