Originally Posted by FIG9
USS Midway 
You know the truth behind that kiss?
Believe it or not, it was not planned, or wanted.
Here's the truth behind it:
1.) the woman wasn't a nurse. She was a dental assistant who had heard rumors the war had ended and went down to Times Square to see if it was true.
2.) The woman wasn't from the US. She was Austrian. (IE part of germany at the time.) She fled in 1939 with her younger sister, and when the war ended did not know if her parents were alive or dead at the hands of the Nazis. (Sadly they died in one of the camps.)
3.) The man (George) doing the kissing was quite drunk, and does not remember the kiss to this day.
4.) It was an assault. To quote Greta (the woman) "And then I was grabbed. That man was very strong. I wasn't kissing him. He was kissing me."
Greta's husband (now) when looking at the photo noticed the odd manner in which she was holding her hand. Greta explained it thus "You know, when you get very tense, your arm stiffens up and your thumb sticks out like that." In one of the earlier photos (before this one was taken) Greta can be seen trying to push the sailor away.
Meaning that the iconic V-J day photo...is nothing more than a sexual assault that was never prosecuted.
