The U.S. Veterans Affairs secretary has reversed a department memo that aimed to ban VA displays of the iconic B次元官网网址淰-J Day in Times SquareB次元官网网址� photograph of a Navy sailor kissing a woman he did not know on the streets of New York at the end of World War II.
Secretary acted hours after a copy of a memo from a VA assistant undersecretary requesting the photoB次元官网网址檚 removal from all VA health facilities was shared on social media. The memo had said the photo B次元官网网址渄epicts a non-consensual actB次元官网网址� and is inconsistent with the departmentB次元官网网址檚 sexual harassment policy.
McDonough on Tuesday tweeted out a copy of the image, which appeared in Life magazine, adding, B次元官网网址淟et me be clear: This image is not banned from VA facilities B次元官网网址� and we will keep it in VA facilities.B次元官网网址�
Two people familiar with the memo confirmed that it was authentic and said McDonough had never approved it and rescinded it once informed that it had been sent out. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
B次元官网网址淭he VA is not going to be banning this photo,B次元官网网址� White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday. B次元官网网址淚 can definitely say that the memo was not sanctioned, and so itB次元官网网址檚 not something that we were even aware of.B次元官网网址�
Copies of the memo racked up millions of views on social media, quickly becoming a political lightning rod.
The photo was taken on Aug. 14, 1945, known as V-J Day, the day Japan surrendered to the United States, as people spilled into the New York City streets from restaurants, bars and movie theaters, celebrating the news. George Mendonsa spotted Greta Friedman, spun her around and planted a kiss. The two had never met.
The photo, by Alfred Eisenstaedt, is called B次元官网网址淰-J Day in Times SquareB次元官网网址� but is known to most people simply as B次元官网网址淭he Kiss.B次元官网网址�
Friedman told the Library of Congress in 2005 that B次元官网网址渋t wasnB次元官网网址檛 a romantic event. It was just an event of thank God the war is over kind of thing.B次元官网网址� She added in an oral history of the photo: B次元官网网址淚t wasnB次元官网网址檛 my choice to be kissed. The guy just came over and kissed or grabbed.B次元官网网址�
in 2016 at age 92. in 2019 at age 95.
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