A freeze frame of 1940's Americana - the iconic black and white photograph of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square, a celebration of the end of World War II. Their faces are hidden in embrace, adding for decades to the mystery of their true identities.
On Thursday night, the Florida Panthers honored veterans at their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets – in particular, one veteran who has long held that he's the sailor in the now infamous photo.
"If you were in uniform and you didn't get kissed, you had to be very ugly,” said 91-year-old Carl Muscarello.
Muscarello still remembers the day in 1945.
“I was polite, I didn't grope, I didn't take liberties and that photographer said what made that picture was the contrast; the dark uniform with the white dress,” he said.
Muscarello - who retired as a NYPD officer and moved to Plantation - took the ice during Military Appreciation Night.
"I am no hero. The only action I ever saw was kissing the girls on Broadway,” said Muscarello. “If you could get a medal for that, I’d be in the White House right now and Donald Trump would be putting it on my shoulder."
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He's one of several men who have come forward over the years and claimed to be the mystery sailor. Last September, the nurse in the famed picture, Greta Friedman, passed away.
"It took my friends and family almost 50 years for me to come forward publicly because it was no big deal,” he said. “I mean, I was no hero. And I was…saddened for some of my friends who never came home."
