It was a spontaneous1 moment that gave rise to one of the 20th century’s most iconic2 photographs.
More than six decades ago a photo was taken of a sailor and a nurse kissing in New York’s Times Square on VJ Day (the surrender of Japan on August 14, 1945). The nurse’s name was Edith Shain, but no one was sure of whom the man was. Because of this more than 10 men have claimed it was them.
Scroll3 down for more
One of the world’s best forensic experts has finally discovered the person whose portrait was on the cover of Life magazine. His name is Glenn McDuffie, an 80-year-old US Navy veteran who is battling lung cancer. For many years he has been claiming it was him but very few people believed him.
“I couldn’t be happier, this means everything to me. I thought I would die before I ever got anything done about it, that was my biggest fear,” said Mr. McDuffie.
“People said I wasn’t telling the truth, that I was a liar4. But all these other guys who claim they’re the sailor... Well, get them to take a polygraph5 test. I’ve taken ten and I passed them all.”
Carl Muscarello, 81, a retired policeman from Florida, is among those who still maintain that they are the sailor in the picture.
“My whole life has been dedicated to following the truth and I know for a fact I am the sailor. That lady in Houston who said it was McDuffie—that’s just her opinion,” he complained.
“Everybody had somebody in that war—an uncle, a father, a friend—and it was like New Year’s Eve that August day when we heard it was over. If you were in uniform, it was likely that if you didn’t kiss anybody, somebody would kiss you. So I did exactly that.”
Mr. Muscarello appears to have been accepted by Mrs. Shain, based on his answers to questions such as where they went out to dinner that night and what he said to her after they kissed. “I told her we never went out to dinner and I didn’t say anything, we just both faded back into the crowd,” he explained.
Mrs. Shain is now 89 and has made a number of public appearances with Mr. Muscarello in the past, including posing6 for a kiss with him in Times Square two years ago.
Mr. McDuffie, however, complains that he has been ignored by her over the years and the only chance he has had to pose was when he dressed up in a sailor’s uniform and locked lips with a pillow for 100 new photographs taken as part of the investigation by Mrs. Gibson, who in 2005 was named by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s most successful forensic artist due to her uncanny7 knack8 for helping Houston police to catch more than 1,000 criminals.
She compared the pictures using digital imaging techniques and precise measurements of his bone structure including his forehead, ears, wrists, knuckles9 and arms. “I am positive10 it’s Glen... What I do is usually a matter of life or death, so I need to be absolutely certain,” she said.
Mr. Eisenstaedt was never able to confirm the identity of the sailor before he died in 1995, but did declare that he believed Mrs. Shain to be the woman in his photograph.
Mrs. Shain, a nurse at a New York hospital at the time, joined the rejoicing crowd that rushed into the streets as news that the war had ended was spoken over the radio. Mr. McDuffie, who was 18 years old and stationed in Brooklyn, claims that he had just emerged11 from a subway station on Times Square and had not heard the news.
“This lady said, ‘Sailor, I’m so happy for you.’ and I said ‘For what?’” he recalled12.
“She said ‘The war’s over and you can go home.’...well, I ran out in the street jumping and shouting. The lady turned around and held out her arms to me and I took her and kissed her.”
He added: “I know Edith Shain was the woman I kissed because she had the biggest mouth of anybody I’ve ever kissed in my life—it went from ear to ear. I’ll never forget it.”
Mrs. Shain, who lives in Los Angeles, has not commented publicly on the latest findings.
“I spoke to her and told her I’d been positively identified,” said Mr. McDuffie. “She was kind of13 sarcastic14, but she told me to keep in touch.”
那本是激情自然流露的时刻，却诞生了20世纪最有名的照片之一。
60多年前，一位水手和一名护士于二战胜利日在纽约时代广场拥吻的画面被拍摄下来。那名护士是伊迪丝·谢恩，但男主角还没有确认。因此，至少有十名男子声称那天是他们拥吻了护士伊迪丝·谢恩。
水落石出
目前，世界上最受人尊敬的一位法医发现了这个人——他的照片曾刊登在著名的《生活》杂志封面上。他叫格伦·麦克达菲，现年80岁，是美国海军退伍军人，现在正与肺癌抗争。多年来他一直声称自己就是那位水手，但很少人相信他。
“验明正身是我最大的幸福，对我来说这意味着一切。我原来担心在我离开人世之前什么收获都没有——这是我原先最害怕的事。”格伦·麦克达菲说。
“有人说我没讲真话，说我撒谎。有好多人自称他们就是那位水手……得了吧，带他们去做一做测谎试验。我做了十次，全过了！”
81岁的卡尔·廖斯卡勒罗是佛罗里达州一名退休警察，是那些仍然声称自己是照片中水手的一员。
他抱怨道：“我毕生致力于追求真理，我知道事实就是：我就是那个水手。而休斯敦的那位女士却说照片中的男主角是麦克达菲——这仅仅是她一己之见。”
“那时候谁没有亲朋好友参战？谁没有叔叔、父亲或朋友参战？一听到二战结束的消息，八月的那一天忽然变成了新年狂欢之夜！如果你穿着军服，如果你不吻别人，别人必然会吻你——所以我也那样做了。”
廖斯卡勒罗似乎得到谢恩夫人的认同——因为他在回答那天晚上俩人到何处用晚餐、吻她后他说了些什么等问题时，完全对路。“我告诉她，我们当时没有共进晚餐、我什么都没有说。我们只是消失在茫茫人海中，”他说。
现年89岁的谢恩夫人已同廖斯卡勒罗一起在公开场合露过几次面，两年前还在纽约时代广场摆姿势亲吻过。
但是，麦克达菲抱怨说，多年来谢恩夫人却一直无视他的存在。他惟一能证明自己是照片中主角的机会，是他穿上水兵制服、在一个枕头上印上100个吻，拍照后供吉布森女士调查之用。吉布森女士在2005年被吉尼斯世界纪录认定为世界上最成功的法医。凭借她那不可思议的高超技巧，她帮助休斯敦警察逮到了1000多名罪犯。
使用数码影像技术和精确测量麦克达菲的骨骼结构，包括他的前额、耳朵、手腕、指关节和胳膊，吉布森女士对两张照片进行了对比。“我敢肯定就是格伦……我所做的判断生死攸关，所以在辨认当事人时要有绝对的把握。”她说。
摄影师艾森斯塔德先生直到1995年去世时仍然无法确定照片中水手的真身，但他认定照片中的女子是谢恩夫人。
当时，谢恩是纽约某家医院的护士，从收音机里得知战争已经结束的消息后，她涌向街头，加入狂欢的人群。麦克达菲当时年仅18岁、驻扎在布鲁克林，说自己刚刚走出时代广场的地铁车站，还没听到战争已经结束的消息。
“她说:‘水手，我真为你高兴’。我问：‘为啥？’” 他回忆道。
“她说：‘战争已经结束了，你可以回家了。’……接着，我跑到大街上，跳跃着、欢呼着。她转身张开双臂迎着我，我便搂住她、吻了她。”
他补充道：“我一眼就认出谢恩夫人就是我吻的那位女士，因为在我这辈子亲吻的人当中，就数她的嘴巴最大——竟然从一只耳朵延伸到另一只耳朵。这令我终身难忘。”
现住洛杉矶的谢恩夫人还没有对最新的调查结论公开发表评论。
“我告诉她，说我已经被验明正身，”麦克达菲说，“谢恩夫人露出几分嘲讽的语气，但要我跟她保持联络。”
1. spontaneous adj. 自发的，自然的
2. iconic adj. 似圣像的，偶像的
3. scroll v. （似卷轴般）卷起或展开
4. liar n. 说谎的人
5. polygraph n. 测谎器
6. pose v. 摆姿势
7. uncanny adj. 不可思议的，不寻常的
8. knack n. 技能，本领
9. knuckle n. 指节（尤指掌指关节）
10. positive adj. 有把握的，确信的
11. emerge v. 出来
12. recall v. 回想起，记得
13. kind of （口）有点儿，有几分
14. sarcastic adj. 讥讽的，嘲笑的，挖苦的