Unconditional Surrender - Sarasota, Florida, USA.
N 27° 20.113 W 082° 32.811
17R E 346975 N 3024513
Giant sculpture featuring a 25 feet tall American Sailor, kissing a Nurse, an Iconic pose from 1945 at Times Square, NYC. when WWII ended The sculpture is located alongside the Tamiami Trail near the Bayfront in Sarasota, Florida.
Waymark Code: WMMXTY
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 11/21/2014
Views: 21
Located along the Sarasota Bayfront, parking lot, alongside US41/The Tamiami Trail stands the Unconditional Surrender Sculpture. An iconic scene from newspaper headlines following the end of World War II. The 25 feet tall Sailor kissing his beloved. Be sure to snap a shot of you and your loved one recreating the scene while the original couple does the same behind you.
"This twenty five foot tall painted aluminum statue by artist Seward Johnson, 2005 has an interesting and controversial history. If the memorial of this young sailor and nurse looks familiar to you then you have probably seen the famous picture taken in Aug 14, 1945 at Times Square, NYC. when WWII ended. Seward Johnson states "I did not use the Eisenstaedt photo to do this piece,” Time Life which owns the copyright says otherwise but was willing to sell for a fee, the image use. There are actually two famous images of this scene! One taken by Eisenstaedt and another taken by Victor Jorgensen both capture the same moment in history at different angles. Jorgensen's image is now in the National Archives. This is the one Johnson says he was inspired by." Text Source: (
visit link)
"George, the sailor, was on leave and had a first date with a cousin to his new brother-in-law. He had met Rita at a BBQ a few weeks before and said he thought he fell in love with her the first time he saw her. The couple went to the theater. During the movie people starting banging on the doors from the streets. The war is over! The Japanese have surrendered!
With the news the couple ran out to Times Square. George caught glimpse of what he thought was a nurse, grabbed her, and kissed her...with Rita overlooking. George said he thought so much of the nurses he had seen take care of his fellow wounded that he grabbed her instinctively. The "nurse" was dental hygienist Greta, who had left the office to see Times Square since hearing the news of the war's end..when a man grabbed her, dipped her and kissed her!
None of the three knew of the photo nor did they speak of the incident until 1980 issue of Life ran the photo again, 35 years later! Now you know the rest of the story!!" Text Source: (
visit link)
NOTE FROM CATEGORY OFFICER: This is an unusual approval in that this is a replica of a world-famous photograph and was approved on a one case basis. Duplicates of sculptures are NOT replicas.