Sailor Behind Iconic World War II Times Square Kiss Photo Dies at 95
The couple married.

Source: Hartford Courant / Getty
The sailor behind the iconic World War II Times Square Kiss photo has died. George Mendonsa was 95.
According to WGN, Mendonsa’s daughter, Sharon Molleur, said Mendonsa fell and had a seizure Sunday at the assisted living facility in Middletown, Rhode Island, where he lived with his wife of 70 years.

Source: Hartford Courant / Getty
Mendonsa was shown kissing Greta Zimmer Friedman, a dental assistant in a nurse’s uniform, on Aug. 14, 1945. Known as V-J Day, it was the day Japan surrendered to the United States.
The photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt became one of the most famous photographs of the 20th century.
It was years before Mendonsa and Friedman were confirmed to be the couple. Friedman died in 2016 at the age of 92.
Mendonsa died two days before his 96th birthday.
Vintage Photos Of Black History Being Made In America
Vintage Photos Of Black History Being Made In America
1. Harriet Tubman
2. Martin Luther King and civil rights leaders
3. Black Panthers
4. Tuskeegee Airmen
5. Books Are Weapons Poster
6. World War II 93rd Infantry
7. Rosa Parks
8. Integrated Classroom in North Carolina
9. African American Students Enter High School with Military Escort
10. Lunchcounter Protest in Virginia
11. Harry Belafonte Leads Civil Rights Rally
12. Malcolm X's Funeral
13. Martin Luther King's Funeral
14. Lynching Victim Hanging Above Crowd
15. W.E.B. DuBois
16. Booker T. Washington
17. The 369th, 15th New York who won the Croix de Guerre for Gallantry
18. Mutilated Corpse of Claude Neal
19. Segregated Fountain
20. Womens Defense Corp of America
21. Crowd Waiting to Enter Supreme Court
22. Black Students Integrate Little Rock's Central High School
23. Troops Watch as Black Students Go to School
24. Segregated Restrooms
25. Portrait Of Medgar Evers
26. Separate Waiting Room
27. Race riots in Birmingham, Alabama.
28. A White Man Bars African-Americans From Restaurant
29. Myrlie Evers Speaking at Microphone
30. A Young Marcher
31. Civil Rights Fighters
32. Elijah Muhammad
33. Anti Segregation In The Southern Stores March At Broadway In New York
34. Selma to Montgomery March
35. Selma to Montgomery March
36. Soldiers at Civil Rights Protest
37. Luther King's Funeral
38. Coretta Scott King
39. 'Kidnapped' Poster At Black Panther Rally
40. 'Right On!' Black Power Button
Vintage Photos Of Black History Being Made In America
From the moment enslaved Africans were kidnapped and brought to the land that went on to be called the United States, there has been Black history in America. Black folks have overcome obstacle after obstacle to continue making that same history in the face of adversity. So with Black History Month upon us, there may be no better time to reflect on the timeless and seemingly endless contributions that Black people have bestowed upon these United States. From fighting for desegregation to fighting in the American military to fighting for an education, and much, much more, the struggle was very real. And while Black folks have continued the fight on a number of different levels, the struggle has persisted. Civil rights have played a major role for the Black man in America, something that is more than apparent in the below vintage photos of Black people making history in America despite a greater power at work against it. It shows the good, the bad and, because it was in the U.S. during a time of heightened, overt racism, the ugly. Scroll down to see more classic images from centuries ago up until just a few short decades ago.
Sailor Behind Iconic World War II Times Square Kiss Photo Dies at 95 was originally published on praisebaltimore.com