Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200811/20081111/article_380156.htm
Edith Shain, the nurse in the famous photograph of a sailor kissing a nurse in New York’s Times Square on V-J Day, is held by cast members of “South Pacific” (from left) Victor Hawks, Charlie Brady, Nick Mayo, Christian Delcroix and Michael Arnold at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in New York on Sunday.
Edith Shain, the nurse in the famous photograph of a sailor kissing a nurse in New York’s Times Square on V-J Day, is held by cast members of “South Pacific” (from left) Victor Hawks, Charlie Brady, Nick Mayo, Christian Delcroix and Michael Arnold at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in New York on Sunday.
Kissing nurse pictures end to war
Created: 2008-11-11
A 90-YEAR-OLD who says she's the woman being kissed by a sailor in Times Square in one of World War II's most famous photographs reunited in town with the Navy on Sunday - days before she is to serve as grand marshal of the city's Veterans Day parade.
Edith Shain of Los Angeles, donning a white nurse's uniform like the one she wore back in 1945, went to see the musical revival of "South Pacific" and posed for pictures, being hoisted off her feet on stage by five of the actors in their Navy whites.
Today, she'll ride in the parade at the head of a contingent of World War II veterans.
The "South Pacific" event was a touching reminder of history, but very different from August 15, 1945, the day Shain recalls that she joined thousands of people whooping it up after Japan surrendered. Right there on Broadway and 45th Street, a sailor suddenly grabbed and kissed her - and the moment was caught by Alfred Eisenstaedt, a Life magazine photographer.
His picture from V-J Day became one of the 20th century's most iconic images.
But Eisenstaedt did not get the names of either party, and efforts years later by Life to identify the pair produced a number of claimants, says Bobbi Baker Burrows, a Life editor.
About 1980, Shain recalls, she wrote a letter to Life, identifying herself as the woman in the nurse's uniform. Eisenstaedt wrote back and later visited her in California and gave her a copy of the photo.
But Eisenstaedt, who died in 1995, was never sure that Shain was the woman in the photo, Burrows said.
At least three veterans still lay claim to being the kissing sailor, and at least one other woman has claimed to be the nurse. But Shain, who left nursing to become a kindergarten teacher in Los Angeles for 30 years, appears to hold the edge by virtue of persistence, an effervescent charm and unabashed patriotism.
"As for the picture," she says, "it says so many things - hope, love, peace and tomorrow. The end of the war was a wonderful experience, and that photo represents all those feelings."
Edith Shain of Los Angeles, donning a white nurse's uniform like the one she wore back in 1945, went to see the musical revival of "South Pacific" and posed for pictures, being hoisted off her feet on stage by five of the actors in their Navy whites.
Today, she'll ride in the parade at the head of a contingent of World War II veterans.
The "South Pacific" event was a touching reminder of history, but very different from August 15, 1945, the day Shain recalls that she joined thousands of people whooping it up after Japan surrendered. Right there on Broadway and 45th Street, a sailor suddenly grabbed and kissed her - and the moment was caught by Alfred Eisenstaedt, a Life magazine photographer.
His picture from V-J Day became one of the 20th century's most iconic images.
But Eisenstaedt did not get the names of either party, and efforts years later by Life to identify the pair produced a number of claimants, says Bobbi Baker Burrows, a Life editor.
About 1980, Shain recalls, she wrote a letter to Life, identifying herself as the woman in the nurse's uniform. Eisenstaedt wrote back and later visited her in California and gave her a copy of the photo.
But Eisenstaedt, who died in 1995, was never sure that Shain was the woman in the photo, Burrows said.
At least three veterans still lay claim to being the kissing sailor, and at least one other woman has claimed to be the nurse. But Shain, who left nursing to become a kindergarten teacher in Los Angeles for 30 years, appears to hold the edge by virtue of persistence, an effervescent charm and unabashed patriotism.
"As for the picture," she says, "it says so many things - hope, love, peace and tomorrow. The end of the war was a wonderful experience, and that photo represents all those feelings."
Agencies
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