Alfred Eisenstaedt is dead at 91. His photographs have become an inchoate part of the national psyche. One photograph, that of a young sailor kissing a woman at Times Square when the Japanese surrendered in World War II, has long been shrouded in mystery. Just who was that soldier?
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, now running for a seat in the United States Senate, solved the mystery today.
"I am the secret kisser," he said, noting quickly that he was not married at the time. "I did not see anything inappropriate or unbecoming in this innocent exuberance," he said.
Mr. Blumenthal promised another press conference to explain how his role as military Romeo could be true given the fact that he was not born until February 1946. An aide explained that the attorney general might have confused his wars, noting Mr. Blumenthal's "timeless devotion to those who serve."
Here's the photo. Wrong war, Dick.