Granddaughter of nurse Greta Friedman who was kissed in Time Square in iconic V-J Day photo says she was 'proud' of the image and 'never felt violated' after VA banned 'non-consensual' picture

The woman in the famous Times Square kiss photo marking the end of WWII 'never felt violated' even though it was a surprise, her granddaughter has revealed.

After the Department of Veterans Affairs tried to ban the 1945 image from its facilities, Caroline Branin told DailyMail.com that her grandmother Greta Friedman viewed the iconic photo as a 'celebration of the end of the war.'

US Navy sailor George Mendonsa did grab Friedman in the 'spontaneous' moment but she was 'really proud of it' until the day she died, Branin said.

The patriotic image shows Mendonsa bending Friedman, a dental nurse, over as he kissed her in Times Square in New York in August 1945.

Department of Veteran Affairs memo instructed employees to 'promptly remove' the historic image and replace it with one deemed less offensive. The VA has since rescinded the memo

Caroline Branin told DailyMail.com that her grandmother Greta Friedman, who was the nurse in the photo and died in 2016, viewed the iconic photo as a 'celebration of the end of the war'. They are pictured together 

Friedman is pictured holding the iconic photo. 'She was always very proud of the image and she thought it was two young people celebrating in the street,' Branin said

While three women have claimed to be the woman in the photo, Friedman was identified as its subject in an authoritative book in 2012 on the subject.

She died in 2016 aged 92 in Richmond, Virginia.

Branin, 28, told DailyMail.com: 'She was always very proud of the image and she thought it was two young people celebrating in the street.

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

'It was really something they were just very happy about. My grandma signed images of the photo up until she died.

'She was proud to be an American citizen. She was a refugee from Austria and so the end of the war marked more to her than for everyday people.

'She never felt it was something inappropriate. It's interesting they tried to reframe historical events in today's values.

'I have a picture in my house that my grandma signed and even George Mendonsa signed it. My grandma stayed in contact with George and she did parades on V-J day with him.

'She never said it was anything she felt was uncomfortable'.

The VA memo instructed employees to 'promptly remove' the historic 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.'

But VA Secretary Denis McDonough was forced to deny the photo's ban after athe 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.

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

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

Branin said that her mother had spoken to her about her 'creepy' boss at the dental clinic where she worked, but not Mendonsa.

She said: 'It was a spontaneous moment. George's wife is in the background of the image, she's laughing.

'George wanted to thank the nurses for saving his life so he kissed my grandmother.'

Branin said that even though it became one of the most famous images of the 20th century, her grandmother said the kiss happened completely by chance.

She said: 'As my grandmother told it to me, she was at work and she went downstairs at lunchtime to see what was happening.

'George grabbed her and kissed her. It was a split second thing and the photographer just happened to be there.

'She never felt violated or anything like that.'

Branin said that the issue was an 'interesting debate' and that her grandmother would have loved to have had her say were she alive.

She said: 'At college I had a women and gender studies teacher who showed that image and said: 'This is a sexual assault.'

'I put my hand up and said that's actually my grandma, she didn't view it that way. The teacher disagreed with me.

'I can understand the argument but for my grandmother it represented the end of the war and they're celebrating.'

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.