An Icon Passes
Literally.
Man known as kissing sailor in WWII-era picture dies
Glen McDuffie died last Sunday. He was 86.
McDuffie was identified by forensic artist Lois Gibson of the Houston Police Department about 6 years ago as the sailor in this iconic photo of World War II:
Although Gibson’s ID is not universally accepted (at least two others have claimed to be the sailor in the photo over the years), she is exceptionally well-respected in her field. Gibson is positive about her identification of McDuffie.
McDuffie will be interred on 21 March 2014 at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.
Rest in peace, my elder brother-in-arms. Rest in peace.
Category: Blue Skies
Most accounts identify the sailor as Georghe Mendosa and, as you say, forensics concluded that McDuffier was the kisser. No matter. Both men served and the real point is the joy of the war’s ending and, quite frankly, I liked it best w/o ID since the sailor represented every man who served during the war. The kissee was Greta Zimmer who was not a nurse but a dental assistant. The kisser and kissee were strangers and she recalled being taken suddenly and that the sailor was strong. In other words, in today’s Navy, that would kiss would result in sexual assault charges.
See, my problem is the math – George here was 86, which means that he was 17 or 18 years old when the picture was taken. He claims that he had three years in the Navy before that day. Not impossible, but…. Maybe I’ve been doing this Stolen Valor thing too long.
Not a single story (all of which, it appears, trace to the Associated Press) cite his full date of birth. The 2007 forensics story I read didn’t either but did say he was 18 when the pic was taken on 14 August 1945. He died on 9 March 2014 at age 86. His birth year had to be 1927 and birth date had to be before 15 August. So, the numbers add up for being 18 when the pic was taken but don’t make sense IF he claimed he was in the Navy in in 1941, 1942, or 1943.
Okay, I found a couple of references to a 2008 event in which McDuffie was honored on his birthdat, 3 August. Thus, he was born 3 August 1927 and, unless he lied on his enlistment, could not have entered service before 3 August 1944, the day he turned 17. The more I read about “The Kisser” the less certain I am that he was the one in the pic. Many sailors kissed many women in Times Square that day and dozens claimed to be the one depicted in the famous photo. The photo forensics were not replicated and accounts attributed to McDuffie of how the kiss came to occur actually vary. He got what he wanted, thanks to death and the AP. Now, I’ll let it rest.
Whom ever the kisser is, Rest in Peace Glen McDuffie. Thank you for serving.
If it was you kissing her McDuffie, way to go my man, way to go sailor!
There’s one little issue that most people don’t notice. McDuffie’s Navy portrait shows him wearing a 3rd Class rate badge on his right sleeve. I believe he was an RM (Radioman) during WWII. During WWII, rate badges went on both sleeves.
If you look at Eisenstaedt’s photo, the sailor is NOT wearing a 3rd class rate badge of any kind on his right sleeve. Even with an undress blues jumper, if he was a PO3, he’d have a rate badge on both sleeves.
So as much as I respect McDuffie and don’t begrudge him his memories, I don’t think he’s the sailor kissing the nurse.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sailor-nurse-from-iconic-vj-day-photo-reunited/ And, according to this link, the kissed woman identified Mendonsa as the kisser. Wiki even has that the Navy War College identified Mendonsa as well. It appears the forensic artist may be off on this one.
With all due respect to EX PH2, you are probably thinking of the right arm rates (Gunners Mate, Boatswain Mate, Signalman, etc) vs the left arm rates (Yeoman, Radioman, etc). In both cases, only one rating badge was used on the sleeve, not both sleeves. This was changed in 1948 to all hands having their crow sewen on the left arm. Made those sea-going rates mad as hell.
Sorry to have to set you straight, because I like your comments on this site. I usually sign off with BZ, but tonite I will sign off as YNC, USN -RET
Yes, I wrote in RM, when McDuffie was actually a Gunner’s Mate GM. My bad. Sorry, Chief.
RIP.
We are running out of WWII vets (at a very fast rate). I lost my Grandfather in 2012 while I was in “Stan”. He was a WWII vet that went from N. Africa all the way through the war. I’ll always remember listening to his and his friends stories while sitting on the edge of my seat. Those stories led to my spending the 26+ years in uniform.
My advice to all,,, find some WWII vets and listen to some stories, before you can only read the stories…