The Unsuspecting Nurse
On June 20, Edith Shain passed away at age 91. Mrs. Shain is widely believed to have been the unsuspecting nurse being kissed in the famous photo snapped by Alfred Eisenstaedt in New York City on V-J Day. The identity of the sailor in the photo is still in dispute, but of all the women who have claimed to be the woman, Eisenstaedt believed that Shain was the most likely candidate.
Shain was working as a nurse at New York's Doctors Hospital on the afternoon of August 14, 1945, when the news of Japan's surrender was broadcast on the radio. She joined thousands of other celebrating citizens in Times Square, which is where a man dressed in a Navy uniform grabbed her, planted a smooch on her, and then continued through the crowd bussing every woman within reach. Eisenstaedt snapped four quick frames of the encounter, then lost the pair in the crowd before he could get their names.
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