The U.S. Veterans Affairs secretary has reversed a department memo that aimed to ban VA displays of the iconic 害羞草研究所淰-J Day in Times Square害羞草研究所� 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 photo害羞草研究所檚 removal from all VA health facilities was shared on social media. The memo had said the photo 害羞草研究所渄epicts a non-consensual act害羞草研究所� and is inconsistent with the department害羞草研究所檚 sexual harassment policy.
McDonough on Tuesday tweeted out a copy of the image, which appeared in Life magazine, adding, 害羞草研究所淟et me be clear: This image is not banned from VA facilities 害羞草研究所� and we will keep it in VA facilities.害羞草研究所�
Two people familiar with the memo confirmed that it was authentic and said McDonough had never approved it and rescinded it once informed that it had been sent out.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.
害羞草研究所淭he VA is not going to be banning this photo,害羞草研究所� White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday. 害羞草研究所淚 can definitely say that the memo was not sanctioned, and so it害羞草研究所檚 not something that we were even aware of.害羞草研究所�
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 害羞草研究所淰-J Day in Times Square害羞草研究所� but is known to most people simply as 害羞草研究所淭he Kiss.害羞草研究所�
Friedman told the Library of Congress in 2005 that 害羞草研究所渋t wasn害羞草研究所檛 a romantic event. It was just an event of thank God the war is over kind of thing.害羞草研究所� She added in an oral history of the photo: 害羞草研究所淚t wasn害羞草研究所檛 my choice to be kissed. The guy just came over and kissed or grabbed.害羞草研究所�
in 2016 at age 92. in 2019 at age 95.
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