‘Kissing sailor’ George Mendonsa passes away aged 95

"He was very proud of his service and the picture and what it stood for."

George Mendonsa or, as he is more commonly known, the Kissing Sailor has passed away aged 95. The World War 2 veteran died on Sunday morning in Rhode Island from severe congested heart failure, according to NBC News. He would have celebrated his 96th birthday tomorrow. The image of Mendonsa kissing the nurse in Times Square at the end of the war would over time become one of the most iconic photographs of the 20th century. Originally published in Life magazine without identifying the kissing pair, it showed a fleeting moment of celebration as Americans first learned the news that Japan had surrendered to the Allies. Afterwards, Mendonsa claimed that he was the young sailor in the photograph - along with many other men who were also adamant that it was them who kissed the nurse in Times Square. However, facial recognition technology later confirmed that Mendonsa - who became a fisherman in later life - was indeed the man in the image. He later said that he had been on leave in Manhattan when the end of the war was announced and that he had been so consumed by the moment that he felt he had to kiss the young nurse. The previously unidentified woman was later discovered to be Greta Zimmer Friedman. She passed away in 2016 at the age of 92.