Historians recently confirmed the identities of the sailor and nurse in the iconic “Kissing Sailor” photograph taken on V-J day, at the end of World War II. Interviews with the pair—who were not and are not a couple—reveal that George Mendonsa (the sailor, who was drunk at the time) kissed Greta Zimmer Friedman (the nurse) entirely against her will.
Crates and Ribbons, unlike the more mainstream outlets that covered the story, points out that this transforms the event from a burst of mutual passion on hearing joyous news to a sexual assault.