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Gregory Bull / AP
A section of the previous version of the statue "Unconditional Surrender" shown as it was being removed in May 2012.
San Diego held a party for a 25-foot tall couple along the Embarcadero Saturday as the sculpture "Unconditional Surrender" was welcomed with a public dedication.
A large crowd of people celebrated the giant sculpture many call the "Kissing Statue" or "The Kiss" in downtown San Diego Saturday.
“We are in San Diego, we have the greatest number of veterans and active duty of any community in the nation,” San Diego Mayor Bob Filner said. “This belongs here.”
Filner and a number of public officials spoke, a military band played and many couples took their own pictures re-enacting "The Kiss" in front of the statue.
The infamous embrace starring a sailor and a nurse is an iconic image of the end of World War II.
Port Commissioner Lou Smith said he’s always seeing young people whose parents weren’t even born before 1945 taking photos in front of the sculpture.
“This is the most magical place of all,” Smith said. “Whoever sprinkled pixie dust on it did a great job.”
Read more stories at NBCSanDiego.com
It made its grand return on Wednesday morning – just in time for Valentine’s Day.
For the ceremony, the theme of renewing love continued when nearly a dozen couples renewed their vows at the foot of the statue.
David Moore flew bombing runs over Germany in World War II.
He said he and his wife, Claire, remember seeing the embrace on the news after the end of the war.
View more videos at: http://nbcsandiego.com.
They joined the couples in renewing their vows.
“It’s very sentimental,” Moore said of the public sculpture.
When he sees it, he thinks of how happy he was that they could get back to civilian life.
David and Mary Flohr, engaged in 1947, also renewed their vows Saturday. The couple has three children 8 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren all living in San Diego.
John Sax, who served in the South Pacific in World War II as well as in Korea, was very happy to see the statue return.
He called it, “a perfect example of people showing their love of the serviceman."
"Unconditional Surrender" left San Diego last May. That statue was owned by Santa Monica-based Sculpture Foundation and was on loan to the Port from 2007 to 2012.
Since then, more than $1 million was raised through public donations to bring a permanent replica back to the bayfront.
Bill Craddock is a member of San Diego’s Pearl Harbor Survivors. The chapter, one of the largest in the nation according to Craddock, has 42 members here in San Diego.
As for the controversy over whether the statue is a worthy piece of public art, he has this to say.
“Art lovers don’t love it but the people love it and that’s what counts,” he said.
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What a waste of money. Meanwhile, the local food bank in San Diego is feeding @350,000 people a month - up from @150,000 two years ago. It's projected that this number could increase to @500,000 by end of year. Also, they are providing @10,000 low income seniors with additional food since their retirement money doesn't stretch like it used to. We have lousy priorities. Donate to your local food bank instead, or in additional to.
Many surface street intersections in the city of San Diego have someone standing with a sign asking for money for food. It makes me sick the city would buy this hideous thing! If the population of San Diego can kick in for this piece of crap, there is no excuse Father Benno's food bank is hurting. This thing isn't worth $300 let alone a million.
Not the guy's girlfriend, but she was there too. The actual sailor just grabbed the first girl he saw upon hearing the war was over. I think lots of people were happy throughout the world.
I wish someone would do a story on Occupied Japan.
This statue was on display by the train station in Hamilton, NJ. It was made at Johnson Atillier Grounds for Sculpture, which is around the corner from the station. They make big, grand scale sculptures that are displayed around that area.
Sorry, that's "Atelier".
There is nothing controversial about ugly things that dot the landscape...we have a lot of that. Its cartoonish and probably belongs in front of a ride at Universal but ultimately, who gives a
rats ass.
After years of research, a historian/demographer was able to track down the woman in the photo from which this statue was modeled. She said that the sailor grabbed her and in the moment, kissed her. She says she had no idea who he was, never met him again, and that his advances were entirely unwelcome. If that happened today, she would have been justified in filing criminal sexual assault charges against him.
So from my perspective, this statue is a monument to sexual predation and assault. I don't know if she is still alive, but imagine the pain she feels if she is, being reminded of how she was assaulted by a stranger in NYC in 1945
surprised it hasnt been torn down for being racist for two whites kissing
A million dollars , is it made of gold ?
The innocent generation that's sentimental about this monstrosity is dying out. Now, if some strange guy grabbed a girl and kissed her, she would YogaKickbox him in the nuts. The thing is truly G*D awful. Who's nephew got the commission?
The problem with this statue, and of the original photo it's based on is that it does NOT depict love.
It depicts an act of sexual assault.
The widely known testimony of the nurse in question states that she did not know the guy, he was drunk, and she pushed him away, i.e. she did not consent to this act. (look up the entire photo series showing the sequence)
After over half century, this country still treats women as just objects to be thrown around by men, and gives unquestioning allowance to acts for servicemen that would otherwise be criminal for everybody else.
What about Morgana the kissing bandit , she ran up and kissed unsuspecting male athletes ... it swings both ways you ultra liberal WEENIE !
That black and white photo made famous during world war II was great, but this sculpture is a great example of tacky art.
His neck looks weird.
who says it is controversial..a word used too often by the media to draw attention to themselves....because a few artistic snobs don't like it that makes it controversial?
When they returned that last one it was sadly missed as a part of our water front next to the Midway Aircraft Museum and the Bob Hope Monument...as far as the art lovers...f-them this is Americana at it's finest and if they don't like it - you can look elsewhere. We San Diegan's love it and America's Finest City.
I think "controversial" is overstating it a bit. There may be some art purists who point out that it's lifted right from Alfred Eisenstaedt's iconic photo "VJ Day", but at least the source was a truly great photo and the sculpture is definitely appropriate for the sailor town of San Diego. There may also be some prudes who find it controversial to show a man and a woman (gasp) kissing!
I love this statue, the heck with critics ........
I love this statue.I loved the photo taken at the end of World War II because it showed that the sailor was happy to be one of the people lucky enough to be returning home.It's too bad that the art critics think anybody wants their opinion.
This Statue display the Love of a Men for a Woman ! Homosexuals sure be fill ofended...
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Yes I agree it's horrible art. The title is more artistic than the statue. However, the idea is romantic. I too thought it was hideous by just the photo, but again it's the idea and the notion of romance and surrendering to love which is...oh so very warm and wonderful in and of itself.
The real statue is located in Sarasota, FL - this is just a replica and does not "belong" there it belongs in the home of the sailors in Sarasota, FL - and to answer dudes question, no the colors have not faded and the statue has been here since before I moved here in 2004 (with the exception of a 6 month period where it underwent touch ups and took a trip as part of an art show)