This is an outtake of the iconic photo taken by photojournalist, Alfred Eisenstaedt, was first published in Life magazine and is often called “V-J Day in Times Square,” or more famously as “The Kiss.” It was taken in New York City’s Times Square on August 14, 1945. Eisenstaedt was happened to photographing a spontaneous event that in Times Square right before the announcement of the end of the war with Japan was made by U.S. President Harry S. Truman early that morning.
As pedestrians watched, an American sailor passionately kisses a white-uniformed nurse who was a stranger to him, to celebrate the long awaited-victory over Japan. The two were later identified as George Mendonsa and Greta Friedman. Many were shocked to hear that at the time Mendonsa’s new girlfriend, Rita Petry, was actually waiting for him in the crowd.
Women's Army Corps
In 1945, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was formed. It was the only all African-American and all-female battalion during World War II. Working in France and England, made them the first black female battalion to serve overseas. The battalion was commanded by Major Early (in the photo below) and composed of 30 officers and 800 enlisted women.
During World War II African American women struggled to find jobs in the defense industry, and when they did, white women were often unwilling to work beside them. Factory work allowed black women to escape domestic servant jobs during the period of the war, and they earn better wages; however, most were fired after the war and forced to resume work as maids and cooks.
The Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is often referred to as "the turning point of the Pacific". It took place between the 4th to 7th of June, 1942. It was the Allies' first major naval victory against the Japanese forces. Which was a rather surprising, as the Japanese Navy had more forces and experience than their American rivals.
In the photo above is an artist's impression of the infamous Battle of Midway. The renown military historian, John Keegan, referred to it "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare".
The Japanese Surrender
Early Sunday morning on September 2, 1945, aboard the new 45,000-ton battleship U.S.S. Missouri and before representatives of nine Allied nations, soldiers and sailors watched as the Japanese signed their surrender. General MacArthur stated at the ceremony that the Japanese and their conquerors did not meet "in a spirit of mistrust, malice or hatred but rather, it is for us, both victors and vanquished, to rise to that higher dignity which alone benefits the sacred purposes we are about to serve."
None of the Japanese delegates were saluted by any of the high-ranking officers, and later, Gen. Carl A. Spaatz revealed that U.S. planes were set and ready with bombs to halt any last-minute guerilla attack by the Japanese, as a deckful of high-ranking Allied officers on the U.S.S. Missouri might have presented a tempting target for a final suicide attack.
German Children in Line for Gruel Rations
During the first two years of the ten-year the Allies occupied Western Germany following World War II, the American food policy was enacted- fearing Nazi resurgence, U.S. occupation forces were given strict orders not to share their food with the German population. Even German maids weren't allowed to be caught with of any leftovers; "the food was to be destroyed or made inedible". Former U.S. president, Herbert Hoover, reported that in the fall of 1946, starvation increased mortality among Germans over 70 by 40% .
The German food situation worsened during the brutally cold winter months of 1946–47. The average German calorie intake ranged from 1,000 to 1,500 calories per day, while the severe lack of fuel for heating only made matters worse. For comparison, the average adult calorie intake in the U.S was 3,200–3,300 ( in the U.S. Army 4,000), and in the UK 2,900. By early 1946, U.S. President, Harry S. Truman, allowed foreign relief aid to enter Germany in order to review the food situation, and in mid-1946 they were permitted to give starving German children food. In the photo above you can see schoolboys in postwar Berlin in line for a ration of gruel (flour and milk) in the playground. The rations were provided by the British authorities.