Hartford Courant Photography Blog knowing they had an uncle that came to America . Because of the photo , I found the family my father sought out for 75 years and never found . Just a couple of years ago , they came to America to visit me .
I think there are a few reasons that photo is one of a handful of the most famous images of that era . America has been involved in other wars , but during World War II there were 15 million men in my age group in the service . So , just about every American family had at least a son , or two , in the war . If a house had two sons serving , they had two stars hanging in there window . If they had three kids in the war , they had a pennant hanging in the window . It was the adult people in America that were involved in World War II and when it all ended it was the adults in America that celebrated and went wild . The scene in Times Square , in which there weren ’ t that many sailors present , it was a celebration of the people .
The recognition is something I feel I share with the Sullivan family and all of the crew on The Sullivans . I ’ ve always felt that the Sullivans suffered far greater than any other family in America during the war . They lost five sons . So I felt like somehow it was meant
to be , that it was the helmsman from The Sullivans that showed up in Times Square on that day . One of my greatest honors was being a part of a big parade in Iowa on the 50th anniversary of their death , with the crew , all these heroes present for the occasion .
A question a lot of folks often ask me is whether I think dropping the atomic bomb was the right decision . I will always say that it was . Guys in the service felt it was fortunate Harry Truman was president because they believed other presidents wouldn ’ t have dropped the bomb . There was a photo after the war was over and the bombs were dropped that shows Harry Truman sitting behind his desk in Washington . In the scene , his daughter is there and the news media is there , and President Truman is being interviewed .
The interviewer asked him , “ Do you think it was the right thing to drop that bomb ?”
His response was , “ Damn right it was .” He was confident in his decision and it prevented a lot more American boys from an inevitable invasion of Japan . I stand by that decision .
AVQ
NOW MARRIED FOR ALMOST 70 YEARS , GEORGE AND RITA WERE SEEING A MOVIE AT RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL FOR THEIR FIRST DATE ON AUGUST 14 , 1945 . THE SHOW WAS STOPPED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FILM AS PEOPLE BEGAN POUNDING ON THE DOORS WITH THE NEWS ALL HAD YEARNED TO HEAR - THE WAR WAS OVER .
THE YOUNG COUPLE MADE THEIR WAY TO THE NEAREST BAR , WHERE GEORGE LATER ADMITTED TO CELEBRATING WITH A FEW DRINKS , BEFORE JOINING THE THRONGS IN TIMES SQUARE
REMEMBERING THE DEVOTION TO DUTY OF THE NURSES WHO TENDED THE WOUNDED OF USS BUNKER HILL OFF OKINAWA , AND CAUGHT UP IN THE ELATION OF THE DAY , GEORGE KISSED THE FIRST NURSE HE SAW . THE MOMENT , CAPTURED ON FILM , SUMMED UP MUCH MORE THAN ONE DAY - IT CAPTURED THE SPIRIT OF A GENERATION , AND EVERYTHING THEY HAD FOUGHT FOR OVER THREE AND A HALF YEARS .
14 AMERICAN VALOR QUARTERLY