The Texas man who made headlines for his repeated claims to being the sailor who randomly kissed a woman in Times Square, leading to one of the most iconic photographic images of World War II, has died.
Glenn Edward McDuffie passed away at age 86 on Sunday in Texas after suffering a heart attack at a casino earlier in the day, his daughter told the Daily News.
McDuffie claimed for years he was the strapping sailor who planted one on the lips of the swooning woman on August 14, 1945. He said it was a spontaneous act of unbridled euphoria sparked by the announcement of Japan’s surrender.
The Life magazine photographer who took the famed shot, Alfred Eisenstaedt, did not record the names of the subjects, and many people have claimed to be the mysterious sailor. In 2007 noted forensic artist Lois Gibson, who works for the Houston Police Department, said she positively identified McDuffie as the sailor. Her technique was to take numerous pictures of the older McDuffie and overlay them over the original. By doing so she said she compared the sailor’s muscles, ears and other features to McDuffie’s, and found them to be a match.
It didn’t settle the issue — but McDuffie certainly felt that it did.
“He was ecstatic when Lois Gibson identified him. She’s world-renowned, in the Guinness Book of World Records. It changed his life,” daughter Glenda Bell, 49, told The News on Friday.
“He was very humble. He didn’t feel he was very important, but he loved going to events and signing autographs, and it was amazing to me to see the reaction. I mean, people would cry,” she said. “He loved talking to everyone. People would share stories about their own parents and grandparents.”
She said her father recalled seeing Eisenstaedt taking the photo and then running along down the street, busy to capture other images of the joyous scene.
McDuffie previously claimed he twisted his arm in the strange, sculptural position so the snapper could capture the young woman’s face.
“I was so happy. I ran out in the street,” he told the Associated Press. “She saw me hollering and with a big smile on my face … I just went right to her and kissed her.”
He said he was swept up in the moment — August 14 was the day news of the Japanese surrender reached the U.S. — because he realized his older brother would soon be released from a Japanese prison camp.
“We never spoke a word,” he said of the nurse. “Afterward, I just went on the subway across the street and went to Brooklyn.”
Born in Kannapolis, N.C., in 1927, McDuffie was only 15 years old when he forged documents to join the U.S. Navy.
The World War II vet married three times and had three children. He outlived his oldest daughter and son, Elene and Mike McDuffie, but is survived by Bell and her two sons.
“He had a big heart. He would give you the shirt off his back. He was very concerned and caring, especially about me and his grandsons,” Bell told The News.
She said her father battled lung cancer but remained active enough to attend an event and sign autographs just last month.
His memorial service is set for March 21 at 2 p.m. at the Dallas/Ft. Worth National Cemetery, Bell said.
“He’ll never be forgotten, ever. I don’t care how many generations of people there are before the world ends, he’ll never be forgotten. Everybody knows that picture,” she said.
With News Wire Services
