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Mendonsa revealed that he had been on a date with another woman named Rita Petry at Radio City Music Hall when news of the Japanese surrender was announced.

'They stopped the show and they said: "The war is over. The Japanese have surrendered,"' he recalled.

Mendonsa and his date, who would later become his wife, rushed to a nearby bar where the sailor admits he 'popped quite a few drinks'.

As they set on their way, Mendonsa spotted a woman in a nurse's uniform - he left Petry and rushed to grab her.

'The excitement of the war being over, plus I had a few drinks,' he told CBS. 'So when I saw the nurse, I grabbed her, and I kissed her.'

Friedman interjected: 'I did not see him approaching, and before I know it, I was in this vice grip.'

She said recognized herself in the photograph as soon as it was published in Life magazine, adding: 'You don't forget this guy grabbing you.'