Unconditional Surrender

[Doug Kerr]

One of the most iconic images of the World War II era is Alfred Eisenstaedt's photo, published in Life Magazine, of a (so-far) unidentified U. S. sailor kissing 26-year old nurse Edith Shain in Times Square, New York during the celebration of "V-J day" (1945.08.14), which marked the unconditional surrender of Japan, ending the war. Shain died just recently.

Sculptor J. Seward Johnson created a statue in commemoration of this scene, one cast of which now stands in Mole Park in San Diego. The statue is 25 feet tall, cast in aluminum and enameled.

Here we see the statue, entitled "Unconditional Surrender", from an unusual vantage point, the deck of the carrier USS Midway.

Douglas A. Kerr: Unconditional Surrender​

You can appreciate the scale of the work from the relative sizes of the two young visitors at the base.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Ken Tanaka]

Wonderful, Doug. I am a bit of a fan of J. Seward Johnson's work but have never seen this one. Posting this image here has a particularly fanciful effect, since the top part of the image appears first. The camera's vantage point suggests that it's just a sentimental, average-sized outdoor sculpture. It isn't until you scroll down that you realize the scale of the work.

During 2008 Johnson installed a similarly super-sized "King Lear" in Pioneer Court here in Chicago. It was quite a striking presence.

Thanks for this, Doug.

BTW, what was your impression of touring the Midway?

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Ken,

BTW, what was your impression of touring the Midway?

I thought it was wonderful. The ship is an amazing piece of machinery, with its own society.

The ship was awash in volunteer docents, most of them retired sailors.

The tour was very interesting, and we got to see a lot.

One thing that was surprising was that, for such a large vessel, such spaces as Primary Flight Operations and in fact the bridge proper were relatively cramped.

There were special presentations on the use of the catapults and on the arresting gear. We had a chance to talk to some fellows who had actaully been involved in carrier flying and in deck operations.

I did have to call attention to one small omission in the presentation on catapult operation. The lecturer said that when everything is ready for the shoot, the "shooter" drops to his knee as the signal to the catapult operator to trip the catapult. I thought I had remembered (from seeing a similar presentation at the Coronado naval base some years before) that the shooter actually has to place his hand on the deck to give the go-ahead. Another docent standing nearby, once a shooter, said that this was absolutely so - "black-letter law".

I would recommend the tour to anyone who visits here.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Asher Kelman]

Douglas A. Kerr: Unconditional Surrender​

Doug,

My first reaction was that these were mime actors recreating the famous kiss for folk to drop money in a hat. The perspective was fine if one had a 50mm lens and the people in the distance seemed to fit in nicely for size. Then I got that they were not people, but statues. My great shock to see the tiny people below! Only then was the giant mismatch from reality so obvious!

Asher