Top : Alfred Eisenstaedt / Time-Life Pictures / Getty Images ; Bottom : George Mendonsa many men who came forward claiming to be the sailor . I never appreciated how Life handled the issue and to this day they ’ ve never confirmed that I ’ m the guy . But a number of experts and compelling evidence attest to me being the sailor in that photograph .
I ’ ve actually been on the air with some of these other guys who have come out claiming themselves to be the sailor and I can eliminate every single one of them . None of them could prove where the spot was in Times Square where the nurse was kissed . At least one said , “ Oh , I came up out of the subway and I saw the nurse and I grabbed her .” Well , where I did kiss that girl , there ’ s no subway station there . And I eliminated them all . None of them had solid proof they could be the sailor in that photo .
Here ’ s the evidence I ’ ve got : I have two rather unique spots on either arm . It ’ s a kind of birth mark and a bump underneath the skin . Richard Benson , a former dean of art and professor of photography at Yale was able to identify this mark on my left arm from the photo . Another professor , Dr . Norman Sauer of Michigan State University , who is a nationally recognized forensic pathologist , identified me based on an in-depth physical characteristic analysis compared to the famous photograph . Additionally , The Mitsubishi Electric Research Lab in Cambridge , MA , used Department of Defense awarded face recognition technology to ultimately decide I was the guy .
I also have unusually large hands . They ’ re fisherman hands , enlarged from pulling up nets . My mother also had large hands . In fact , it was one of the first features of mine that I noticed when I saw the picture . I saw my hands .
Later , my wife Rita , she starts looking at the photo one day and said , “ You know , that girl ’ s face over the sailor ’ s right shoulder ? I think that ’ s me !”
I said , “ No , that ’ s not you . You were on the other side .”
She got disgusted with me that I
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wasn ’ t supporting her so one day I went to the old photos we had in the house and dug up some photos of her the same year .
I thought , “ She can be identified . I ’ ve got the photos right here .” So if you look at the photo , you can identify Rita as well .
The truth is , the photo has been worth so much more to me than any notoriety I ’ ve received . My father was born in Madeira Island , Portugal , and came to America in 1910 . In Portugal during those years , to form the Portuguese Army , they would take a son out of each family . So my father ’ s youngest brother was appointed by the family to go into the Portuguese Army to fulfill the family obligation . Two other kids from the village went along with him to Africa and after a period of time they returned , but my uncle was not with them . My father asked the other kids how they came back and where his brother was but he
never found out . For years and years , my father would get a tip that maybe his brother was in Venezuela , since a lot of young guys were leaving Madeira in poverty and going all over to South America . I can remember my father , every once in a while getting excited and following a tip , but he was never able to trace him anywhere .
Then , after the war , when my picture was circulating all over the world , I got a phone call one night and a guy on the other end of the line said , “ Are you George Mendonsa ?”
“ Yeah ,” I said . Then he asks me if I ’ m Portuguese and I responded “ yes ” again .
“ Where were your people from ?” he asked .
“ My people were from Madeira , Portugal .”
Then he said , “ I think we ’ re related . My father is in Venezuela and his name was Mendonsa .”
My father tried for 75 years to find his brother and he never found him . Now this photo is circulating in the newspapers in Venezuela with my name in the photo . My cousins saw that photo and that article
IN A SECOND , ORIGINALLY UNPUBLISHED PHOTO , THE FUTURE RITA MENDONSA CAN BE SEEN DIRECTLY AND MORE FULLY . ALONG WITH THE SPOTS ON THE SAILOR ’ S HAND , HIS HAIRLINE , AND SEVERAL OTHER DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS , RITA ’ S PRESENCE IN THE PHOTO PROVED KEY IN IDENTIFYING GEORGE AS THE SAILOR . OF THE SEVERAL WOMEN WHO BELIEVED THEMSELVES TO BE THE NURSE , ONLY GRETA FRIEDMAN WAS TALL ENOUGH TO MATCH UP WITH GEORGE .
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