A kiss immortalized in August 14, 1945

Photo from Wikipedia: Kissing the War Goodbye

Above is the lesser known photo taken by Lt. Victor Jorgensen of a sailor kissing a passing nurse on VJ Day in Times Square.

The most famous and iconic picture of this same subject - VJ Day in Times Square - taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt, was published in LIFE in 1945 with the caption, In New York's Times Square a white-clad girl clutches her purse and skirt as an uninhibited sailor plants his lips squarely on hers.

August 14, 1945 in New York City was a magical moment - a confluence of history, a place, and everyday people. Soldiers were returning home from an intense four years of fighting when President Truman announced Victory in Japan (VJ Day) - the end of the American involvement in World War II.

In Times Square, the sailors paraded in joy for they had won! On the street, civilians came out to the streets from their shops, the hospitals, to savor this moment of victory. Then a sailor, caught up in the passion, kissed a surprised young nurse, who was stopped in mid stride as two photographers, Lt. Jorgenson, an American sailor, and Alfred Eisenstaedt, a German-American photojournalist for LIFE magazine, snapped this spontaneous moment.

Eisenstaedt, whose photo made it into LIFE, ironically had fought on the side of Germany in World War I. He later photographed a meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Italy before emigrating to US to escape Nazi oppression in 1935 .

But who were the subjects of Jorgenson's and Eisenstaedt's iconic photo?

The nurse was Edith Shain and here is the story:



The greatest generation, like Edith Shain who passed away this June 2010, is fading into history. The new generation taking their place is greatly in debt to their sacrifce.

When our nation was born, the writers of the Declaration of Independence finished "with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

So did many, who made the ultimate sacrifice during World War II, carried the Spirit of 1776 to the Spirit of 1945. May our generation carry the Spirit of 1776 and 1945 in 2010 and beyond.

Other links:

From nydailynews.com: Edith Shain, nurse whose V-J kiss with sailor in Times Square immortalized in Life photo, dies at 91

From YouTube.com: Photo of iconic kiss reenacted

Beverly Hillbillies and Amos - country folk in the big city

Remember the Ballad of Jed Clampett by Flatt & Scruggs?

"Come and listen to a story 'bout a man named Jed
Poor mountaineer barely kept his family fed
Then one day he was shooting for some food,
And up through the ground come a bubbling crude...."

For the complete lyrics: click here

The first two verses opened and the last one closed the show of the 9 year long running sitcom, The Beveryly Hillbillies (1962-1971)

Beverly Hillbillies Opening Theme - More amazing video clips are a click away

This really dates me, but I watched the Beverly Hillbillies on TV before they went into perpetual reruns on TV land. The humor of the show was displacement - the fish out of water - rural, simple, naive hillbillies in the big city culture and sophistication of Beverly Hills. How absurd! Or was it?

What I found so appealing about the Clampett family in the original series was that they were genuinely decent, honest, kind, polite, godly people. As a plot for many episodes, the dishonest, the greedy, the godless, the self-aggrandizing had marked this simple hillbilly family as an easy target to use and to fleece. Yet, simple goodness prevailed over the many sophisticated flavors of evil.

"Simple" as in good is always easy to grasp. What does a straight line look like? There is one answer.


It doesn't leave much to the imagination, does it? Straight can only be one way.


"Sophistication" in the worldly sense is harder to grasp. What does a crooked line look like?


There are infinite ways for the line to be crooked. Likewise, evil can be twisted in an infinite many ways. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that evil seems more appealing and intriguing? Its mystery?

I see a timeless parable in the original "Beveryly Hillbillies." In some episodes, the simple goodness and wisdom of the Clampetts seemed as a witness to the complicated, twisted sophistication and worldly wisdom of the big city.

Likewise, there is another much overlooked story of an ancient "hillbilly," who lived in the 8th century before Christ and came to the sophisticated town of Bethel. His name was Amos, a shepherd from the desert of Tekoa, who took care of sycamore-fig trees.

Read all about this simple country preacher, who came to the "Beverly Hills" of his day: The Country Preacher Who Came to Town

For our sophisticated age of the internet in the 21st century, Amos proclaims this timeless message from the One who called him:

12 For I know how many are your offenses
and how great your sins.
You oppress the righteous and take bribes
and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts.13 Therefore the prudent man keeps quiet in such times,
for the times are evil.14 Seek good, not evil,
that you may live.
Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you,
just as you say he is.
Amos 5:12-14
(NIV)

Whether the fictional Jed Clampett or the Old Testament prophet Amos - both these country boys took on the sophisticated big city.

Photos:

from everystockphoto.com:
Beverly Hills

from wikipedia:
Straight line
Crooked line

The Trinity Site - 65 years ago

The first Saturday in October 2008, I had visited one of the two days in the year that the Trinity Site was opened up to the public. I wrote about the experience and had it published in the article below:

The Trinity Site: Where the First Atomic Bomb was Exploded - click here

This July 16, 2010 is the 65th anniversary of the explosion of the first atomic bomb. The video clip below shows that event.




Throughout the years, the splitting of the atom has sparked a firestorm of controversy and soul searching as this powerful genie was unleashed upon humanity. One thing it did do. It ended World War Two - the most deadly war to date - whose death toll was mounting up between 62 to 78 million.

Who saw this coming? Perhaps 1900 years ago, St. Peter saw an awesome day of destruction when he penned these words:

"You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat."
2 Peter 3:11-12 (New International Version)

That day has not come yet - we are still here. But in an obscure place in the desert of New Mexico, a small piece of the elements melted away with heat 65 years ago.

Photo at entrance to Ground Zero: S. K. Smith

Have a Blessed Fourth!

I found this marvellous video clip from the HBO mini-series, John Adams. It captures the signing of the Declaration of Independence.





I wish all of you a blessed Fourth of July with this DaySpring.com Fourth of July Greetings: America's freedom story


Photo from Wikipedia Commons: John Trumbull's painting, Declaration of Independence

Fathers are so important!

As Father's Day is coming, I stumbled upon this information in the newsletter from the advocacy group, Fathers for Life.

The following statistics reveal these grim figures of a child's life without a father.

Children from fatherless homes are:
* 4.6 times more likely to commit suicide,
* 6.6 times to become teenaged mothers (if they are girls, of course),
* 24.3 times more likely to run away,
* 15.3 times more likely to have behavioral disorders,
* 6.3 times more likely to be in a state-operated institutions,
* 10.8 times more likely to commit rape,
* 6.6 times more likely to drop out of school,
* 15.3 times more likely to end up in prison while a teenager.

A father's positive influence in the family is very important for the well being of children and society. For the fathers - and those who are a father to the fatherless - who care in numerous ways for the kids in your life, you well deserve our thanks and respect for soldiering on.

On a lighter note, this commercial honoring a dad's life (as well as selling soap), played during Super Bowl XLIV.



Photo from everystockphoto: Parallel worlds

The Story Behind the Star Spangled Banner

For years, I have sung the National Anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner," at sporting events and not given much thought to the words I was singing.

As Flag Day comes upon us this June 14, I stumbled on this terrific video clip of the historical and heart-felt meaning behind those words:



----------------------------------------------------------

Lyrics, by Francis Scott Key:

First Verse
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Second Verse
On the shore dimly seen, thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines in the stream;
'Tis the Star-Spangled Banner, Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Third Verse
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.


Fourth Verse
Oh, thus be it ever when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto, "In God is our trust"
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
----------------------------------------------------------

For timeline of the Star Spangled Banner: click here

The Star Spangled Banner was born in the crucible of the American Revolution and the War of 1812, in which we fought the British. Since then, the United States and the United Kingdom have become strong allies.

Almost 200 years after the War of 1812, after the 2001 attack of 9-11, the British gave this moving tribute, playing the Star Spangled Banner at Buckingham Palace:




photo from Wikipedia Commons: Star Spangled Banner

Remembering D-Day - June 6, 1944

In June of 1944, the World War II Allies launched the Invasion of Normandy, then the largest amphibious invasion of all time, which commenced on a day we know as D-Day.



Many great movies have been made about D-Day or have included it in their larger story. Among them:

The Longest Day (1962)

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Band of Brothers (2001)


General Dwight D.Eisenhower relayed these words on June 6, 1944:

"Soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force. You are about to embark upon the great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hope and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you."
(from Department of Defense, The Passing of the Torch)

So on the beaches of Normandy, France, more than 100,000 soldiers began the march across Europe to fight Nazi Germany. And this was over 60 years ago.

I think these words from Sir Winston Churchill say it best:

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."


Photo from Wikimedia Commons: National D-Day Memorial