Woke Veterans Affairs memo calls for a BAN on iconic V-J Day photo of a sailor kissing a woman in Times Square to 'promote awareness' about 'a non-consensual act' - but its secretary says it will stay

The Department of Veteran Affairs has rescinded a memo banning the iconic J-V Day Times Square kiss photo from its buildings.

VA Secretary Denis McDonough was forced to deny the photo's ban after a leaked memo signed by Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Operations RimaAnn O. Nelson began making the rounds online.

'Let me be clear: This image is not banned from VA facilities - and we will keep it in VA facilities,' McDonough said on Twitter.

When pressed by DailyMail.com, the VA admitted the memo was sent out late last month but had since been rescinded. It's not clear if it was ever approved by McDonough.

The memo instructed employees to 'promptly remove' the historic image and replace it with one deemed less offensive.

The Department of Veteran Affairs has rescinded a memo banning the iconic J-V Day Times Square kiss photo from its buildings

When pressed by DailyMail.com, the VA admitted the memo was sent out late last month but had since been rescinded

The memo instructed employees to 'promptly remove' the image and replace it with one deemed less offensive

'The photograph, which depicts a non-consensual act, is inconsistent with the VA's no-tolerance policy towards sexual harassment and assault,' the memo read. 

'To foster a more trauma-informed environment that promotes the psychological safety of our employees and the veterans we serve, photographs depicting the 'V-J Day in Times Square' should be removed from all Veterans Health Administration facilities.'

Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Operations RimaAnn O. Nelson penned the complaint

Despite secretary McDonough's announcement, many on social media slammed the VA for what they saw as another instance of woke policies. 

One critic wrote: 'Biden's VA UnderSec hates men almost as much as she hates vets. She's banning the V-J Day photo by because the sailor did not obtain consent before kissing the woman who said, '..It wasn't a romantic event. It was just an event of thank God the war is over kind of thing.''

Another added:  'They are trying to erase America's history. What is so wrong with this photo?'

A third said: 'This V-J Day kiss photo is American culture. To ban this is to ban our very own culture and our veterans morale.'

The iconic image J-V Day image, which captured New York's celebration as the Second World War ended, has recently been seen in a a new light, with many arguing it portrays sexual assault because the soldier kissed the woman without consent.

It took decades before Greta Friedman and George Mendonsa, a sailor on leave, were identified as the couple locking lips in the picture taken by Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt on August 14, 1945.

Freidman's son, Joshua, said his mother and Mendonsa became friends as they got older, despite Greta being kissed entirely out-of-the-blue on V-J Day all those years ago.

Mendonsa and Friedman returned to Times Square in 1980 to recreate the photograph. By that time they were both happily married to other people, and had not seen each other in 35 years

 The couple are pictured at the World War II Memorial in 2005

'My mom always had an appreciation for a feminist viewpoint, and understood the premise that you don't have a right to be intimate with a stranger on the street,' Josh Friedman told the NYDN.

'(But) she didn't assign any bad motives to George in that circumstance, that situation, that time.'

Veterans Affairs did not reply when asked by DailyMail.com whether Nelson would face any consequences for sending the memo. 

It's not Nelson's first time being the subject of backlash over her handling of veteran affairs. 

Back in 2016, after she was made director of the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Arizona lawmakers including John McCain expressed concern over her 'questionable record' in a letter to then- president Barack Obama.

In one letter, they cited a 2011 report that found a St Louis facility under Nelson's watch potentially exposed over 1,800 veterans to HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.

The report found longstanding issues with dental equipment at the center, but also added that the chances of 'patient-to-patient transmission of a blood-borne infectious disease … was unlikely.' 

Still, the facility notified the nearly over 1,800 patients of the risk. 

In another letter signed by lawmakers including then Democratic rep. Kyrsten Sinema, lawmakers called Nelson's past 'less than impressive.'

The letter read: 'To think that Ms. Nelson, with her less-than-impressive past, is the best possible candidate to provide crucial leadership for the facility equated to "ground zero" of the VA scandal is unequivocally offensive to us and each of the veterans we represent.'

Greta Zimmer Friedman: The woman taken by surprised in V-J Day kiss photograph

Greta Zimmer Friedman's name may not ring any bells, but the famous photograph of her being kissed by a sailor in the middle of Times Square celebrating the Japanese surrender in World War II is seen and known by millions.

Friedman was born and raised in Austria. She and her two sisters fled Hitler and the Nazis and came to America in 1939, leaving her parents behind. 

She was 21 years old, living in Queens and working as a dental assistant when she came across George Mendonsa, a drunken sailor stumbling through Times Square amid jubilant crowds after the war ended on August 14, 1945.  

Describing the moment decades later, Friedman said she would never forget her shock when Mendonsa grabbed her and kissed her entirely out-of-the-blue. 

It wasn't until the 1960s that Friedman learned the kiss had been immortalized by Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt when she saw the photo and immediately recognized herself. 

By that time, she had married a doctor, Mischa (Mitty) Friedman, and moved to Maryland, where they raised son Joshua and daughter Mara.

Friedman and Mendonsa were reunited through the photograph and developed a friendship over the years, but that kiss in 1945 was the only one they would ever share.  

She passed away aged 92 at an assisted living facility in Virginia on September 8, 2016. She was laid to rest alongside her late husband in Arlington National Cemetery.