Kissing Sailor & Nurse

I never tire of seeing statues depicting this jubilant kiss: the iconic photo taken in Times Sq when V-J Day was announced in 1945.
This one is on SanDiego pier next to the USS Midway Museum. But I’ve also observed the ones in Sarasota Fla, and at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton NJ.

There’s another part of the story that surfaced again with the recent death of the sailor pictured. Even with some controversy during the MeToo movement; because this nurse (actually a Dental ass’t) had Not given her permission to be grabbed & kissed…. the true love story/stories remain.
One love story - - this sailor had experienced Pearl Harbor first-hand; witnessed the Japanese pilots attack, and even pulled sailors from the flaming waters. So in his jubilation, he grabbed the first nurse he encountered. She represented all the nurses who tended to his stricken buddies at Pearl Harbor. So she got his Thank You kiss!
Second true love story - - his date (who was actually nearby him when he kissed the nurse) became his wife for 66 years !
Now that’s a true love story.