The Department of Veterans Affairs has rescinded a memo that banned the iconic JV Day kiss photo in Times Square from its buildings.
VA Secretary Denis McDonough was forced to deny the photo ban after a leaked memo signed by Deputy Secretary RimaAnn O. Nelson began circulating online.
“Let me be clear: this image is not prohibited in VA facilities, and we will keep it in VA facilities,” McDonough said on Twitter.
When pressed by DailyMail.com, the VA admitted that the memo was sent late last month but had since been rescinded.
The memo instructed employees to “immediately remove” the historical image and replace it with one deemed less offensive.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has rescinded a memo that banned the iconic JV Day kiss photo in Times Square from its buildings.
When pressed by DailyMail.com, the VA admitted that the memo was sent late last month but had since been rescinded.
The memo instructed employees to “immediately remove” the image and replace it with one deemed less offensive.
“The photograph, which depicts a non-consensual act, is inconsistent with the VA’s no-tolerance policy toward sexual harassment and assault,” the memo said.
“To foster a more trauma-informed environment that promotes the psychological safety of our employees and the veterans we serve, photographs depicting ‘VJ Day in Times Square’ should be removed from all US Health Administration facilities.” the veterans”.
Deputy Secretary RimaAnn O. Nelson wrote the complaint.
Despite Secretary McDonough’s announcement, many on social media criticized the VA for what they saw as another example of woke policies.
One critic wrote: ‘Biden’s VA UnderSec hates men almost as much as he hates vets. He’s banning the VJ Day photo because the sailor didn’t get consent before kissing the woman who said, “…It wasn’t a romantic event.” It was simply an event of thanks to God that the war is over.”
Another added: “They are trying to erase American history.” What’s wrong with this photo?
A third said: “This VJ Day kiss photo is American culture.” “To ban this is to ban our own culture and the morale of our veterans.”
The iconic JV Day image, which captured New York’s celebration as World War II ended, has recently been seen in a new light, with many arguing that it portrays sexual assault because the soldier kissed the woman without consent.
Mendonsa and Friedman returned to Times Square in 1980 to recreate the photograph. At the time they were both happily married to other people and had not seen each other in 35 years.
The couple is photographed at the World War II Memorial in 2005.
Decades passed before Greta Friedman and George Mendonsa, a sailor on leave, were identified as the couple kissing in the photograph taken by Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt on August 14, 1945.
Freidman’s son, Joshua, said his mother and Mendonsa became friends as they grew older, even though Greta was kissed completely unexpectedly at VJ Day all those years ago.
“My mother always appreciated the feminist point of view and understood the premise that you have no right to be intimate with a stranger on the street,” Josh Friedman told NYDN.
“(But) she didn’t assign any bad motive to George in that circumstance, that situation, that moment.”
This is not the first time Nelson has faced backlash for his handling of veterans’ affairs.
In 2016, after she was named head of the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Arizona lawmakers, including John McCain, raised concerns about her “questionable record” in a letter to then-President Barack Obama.
They cited a 2011 report that found a St Louis facility under Nelson’s supervision potentially exposed more than 1,800 veterans to HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
The report found long-standing problems with dental equipment at the facility, but also added that the chances of “transmission of a blood-borne infectious disease from one patient to another… were unlikely.”
Still, the center notified nearly more than 1,800 patients of the risk.
Greta Zimmer Friedman: the woman surprised in the VJ Day kiss photograph
The name Greta Zimmer Friedman may not ring a bell, but the famous photograph of her being kissed by a sailor in the middle of Times Square celebrating the Japanese surrender in World War II is seen and known by millions.
Friedman was born and raised in Austria. She and her two sisters fled Hitler and the Nazis and came to the United States in 1939, leaving her parents behind.
He was 21 years old, living in Queens and working as a dental assistant when he encountered George Mendonsa, a drunken sailor stumbling through Times Square amid jubilant crowds after the war ended on August 14, 1945.
Describing the moment decades later, Friedman said she would never forget her surprise when Mendonsa grabbed her and kissed her completely unexpectedly.
It wasn’t until the 1960s that Friedman learned that the kiss had been immortalized by Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, when she saw the photo and immediately recognized herself.
By this time, she had married a doctor, Mischa (Mitty) Friedman, and moved to Maryland, where they raised their son Joshua and daughter Mara.
Friedman and Mendonsa met through photography and developed a friendship over the years, but that kiss in 1945 was the only one they would share.
She died at age 92 in an assisted living facility in Virginia on September 8, 2016. She was buried next to her late husband at Arlington National Cemetery.