"Unconditional Surrender"

I've always wanted to see this giant statue of the sailor kissing the nurse...

It's by the USS Midway and it's pretty easy to spot from far off...

We saw this before going to Dunkin' Donuts a few weeks ago, the day we decided to do a Trolley adventure and kind of play "tourist"...
Before reaching the statue, which is called "Unconditional Surrender", we passed by this commemorative monument to "The Greatest Generation"...


On the cement was a map of all the of places where U.S. troops fought during WWII, including the Philippines, who were U.S. allies since they were also fighting against the Japanese.

In the background is the USS Midway which we've toured before when TC was still in elementary school. It's a pretty cool museum with a lot of history. I remember asking my dad, a retired Navy veteran to see it, but he said, "No, I was in the Navy for 23 years and I don't want to be on a ship again!", Haha, my dad. He actually worked on submarines back in the '60's and got paid what they call "Hazard Pay" since subs were more "dangerous" to work on than ships.

And there it is...

Do you see the guy humping the girl's leg? Okay, he was just clinging on to it like those koala bear clips from the 80's (remember those?).  Someone else took a funny picture looking UP the dress.  Nice.

This is the 2nd version of the statue. I believe the first one was made of bronze then it got all messed up and was replaced last year.

I always thought it was based on Eisenstadt's famous photo,  "V-Jay Day in Times Square" on the cover of LIFE magazine in an issue the commemorated the end of WWII. According to the artist, the statue was based on the same scene of a  lesser known photo by Victor Jorgensen.

I always thought the original photo was so exuberant, romantic, and fleeting...

Nearby was a tribute to comedian Bob Hope and his contributions to the military during WWII.

There is a life size metal statue of Bob Hope with piped in snippets of his comedy routines complete with a multicultural audience...


A view of the USS Midway, the building that I call the Phillips screwdriver Building, and the giant statue...

I found it interesting that they had the foreign languages in Vietnamese and Thai (I think it's Thai). I'm not sure what the last language is.  Are they targeting certain Asian populations? They forgot Tagalog, oh wait, those fisherman are at the IB pier! Just wondering...

In addition to the giant statue, there was a man who was wearing a silver suit and painted silver. If you've watched the British buddy/cop comedy "Hot Fuzz", there is a character in there called "The Living Statue" (who later gets killed off by the townspeople because he was an "annoying blight"). Made me laugh when I saw this guy...


I hope that face/body paint isn't toxic. The one they used for the Tin Man in "The Wizard of Oz" gave the original actor (Buddy Ebsen) problems because of the aluminum powder used. The powder got into his lungs which caused an allergic reaction and he almost died. The Tin Man role was then given to Jack Haley and Ray Bolger ended up playing the Scarecrow. A little trivia for ya there.

The USS Midway
910 N. Harbor Dr.
San Diego, CA 92101

www.midway.org

"Unconditional Surrender"
in Tuna Harbor Park
between G St. and N. Harbor Dr. (next to the USS Midway)

Reviews from ***

Bob Hope Memorial
(same location)

Reviews from ****

www.portofsandiego.org

Although it would have been funny to have a shot of Bert looking up the dress, we chose not to do any crude photos (THIS TIME)...