George Mendonsa Wiki, Biography, Age, Wife, Children, Cause of Death, Obituary, Net Worth, Family, Ethnicity, Death and Kissing Sailor Picture
Table of Contents
George Mendonsa Biography – George Mendonsa Wiki
George Mendonsa full name George Anthony Mendonsa, was a US sailor famously photographed kissing a stranger in New York’s Times Square to celebrate the end of World War II.
After High School, George enlisted in the United States Navy. After bootcamp he was assigned to the USS The Sullivans in the Pacific during WWII as a Quartermaster First Class.
After leaving the service, George became a commercial fisherman. He was an owner in Tallman & Mack Fish Company for over 50 years. His passion for fishing and the sea had him working until he was 82.
George Mendonsa and Greta Zimmer Friedman
The picture of George Mendonsa bending over and kissing 21-year-old Greta Zimmer Friedman on VJ Day (Victory over Japan) became one of the most enduring images of the period. It was one of four photographs taken by Alfred Eisenstadt as a round-up of celebration pictures for Life magazine.
Alfred Eisenstadt did not give the names of the kissing strangers and it was years before Mr Mendonsa and Ms Friedman were confirmed as the featured couple. Friedman died in 2016 aged 92.
Eisenstadt described how he watched the sailor running along the street on 14 August 1945, grabbing any girl in sight. He wrote in the book Eisenstadt on Eisenstadt: “I was running ahead of him with my Leica looking back over my shoulder but none of the pictures that were possible pleased me. Then suddenly, in a flash, I saw something white being grabbed. I turned around and clicked the moment the sailor kissed the nurse. If she had been dressed in a dark dress I would never have taken the picture.”
Greta Zimmer Friedman
Friedman, who had been working as a dental assistant, said she had not been aware of the photo until the 1960s. She said about the kiss, “It wasn’t much of a kiss. It was just somebody celebrating. It wasn’t a romantic event.” Friedman died in 2016 aged 92.
George Mendonsa Age
He was born on February 19, 1923 in Newport. He died on February 17, 2019 aged 95.
George Mendonsa Family
He was born to the late Arsen and Maria Mendonsa. He was one of six children. His five siblings are Hilda Todd, Mary, Arsen, Manny and Able.
George Mendonsa Wife
George met his wife, Rita Mendonsa, in 1945 while on leave. They were married in October 1946.
George Mendonsa Children
He had two children, a son, Ronald Mendonsa and a daughter, Sharon Molleur.
George Mendonsa Death
Mendonsa’s daughter, Sharon Molleur, said her father suffered a seizure and died on February 17, 2019 after a fall at a care home in Middleton, Rhode Island.
George Mendonsa Cause of Death
He suffered a seizure and died after a fall.
Kissing Sailor Picture – Greta Zimmer Friedman Photo
