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Florida WWII statue to stay at Sarasota Bayfront after GOP congressman intervenes
Fox News ^ | 09.17.2020 | Michael Ruiz

Posted on 09/17/2020 2:28:32 AM PDT by USA Conservative

25-foot 'Unconditional Surrender' sculpture depicts an iconic photograph taken in Times Square in Aug. 14, 1945 A controversial statue of a Navy sailor kissing a dental assistant to celebrate the Allies' World War II victory over Japan can stay in a Florida city where officials considered removing it.

“Sarasota City Manager Tom Barwin just told me the ‘Unconditional Surrender’ statue will remain at the Bayfront,” Florida GOP congressman Vern Buchanan said in a statement Tuesday. “That’s what the people of our community wanted overwhelmingly.”

Buchanan urged local officials to leave the statue last week, as they mulled either moving it or taking it down entirely.

The 25-foot “Unconditional Surrender” sculpture depicts an iconic photograph taken in Times Square in Aug. 14, 1945, showing George Mendonsa kissing Greta Zimmer Friedman, a dental assistant. They had never met, and in an interview decades after the famous encounter, Friedman said it wasn’t her choice to be kissed.

Vandals spray-painted “#MeToo” on the sculpture, shortly after Mendonsa’s death in 2019. Friedman died in 2016.

https://twitter.com/SarasotaPD/status/1097855057897369601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1097855057897369601%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fus%2Fsarasota-florida-unconditional-surrender-wwii-statue-stay

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: buchanan; communism; fl; florida; veterans; ww2
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A controversial statue? Who said? That image is 75 years old and beloved by so many generations. I think it is some Commie who has a problem with this! lol
1 posted on 09/17/2020 2:28:32 AM PDT by USA Conservative
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To: USA Conservative

That statue is also adjacent to the USS Midway museum in San Diego.


2 posted on 09/17/2020 2:33:49 AM PDT by abb
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To: USA Conservative

3 posted on 09/17/2020 2:36:08 AM PDT by Libloather (Why do climate change hoax deniers live in mansions on the beach?)
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Iconic photograph, pop art statue. I thought it was a bit on the kitschy side of the scale.


4 posted on 09/17/2020 2:36:08 AM PDT by Clutch Martin (The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.)
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To: USA Conservative

These low life communist pigs will never know honor,courage and pride in a concept called America. I can only dream of the thrill and relief that people would feel after winning a war that almost ended our civilization. Now we are at the beginning of having to rid ourselves of an even greater threat to America. The enemy within.


5 posted on 09/17/2020 2:43:27 AM PDT by HighSierra5
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To: Libloather

Very lifelike.

Looks somewhat like a very small statue of a little man. A sailor and a nurse seem to have decided to make out next to the little statue.


6 posted on 09/17/2020 2:48:02 AM PDT by C210N
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To: USA Conservative

#MeToo is fizzled out now that Bidden is the nominee.


7 posted on 09/17/2020 3:04:21 AM PDT by Moonman62 (http://www.freerepublic.com/~moonman62/)
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To: USA Conservative

Yay!
I know that statue well!


8 posted on 09/17/2020 3:08:15 AM PDT by Guenevere (**See you at the Franklin Graham Prayer March in DC on September 26!**)
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To: Libloather

I saw the same statue at the British Portsmouth Naval Yard last year.


9 posted on 09/17/2020 3:10:41 AM PDT by Kozak (DIVERSITY+PROXIMITY=CONFLICT)
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To: USA Conservative

Everything’s “controversial” if the Left says so. 80% of Americans can love Mt. Rushmore with another 15% being apathetic about it, but as long as a few whiny white liberals are out there complaining, the mainstream media will depict it as half-vs.-half struggle.


10 posted on 09/17/2020 4:05:57 AM PDT by Trump20162020
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To: HighSierra5

BINGO!!!


11 posted on 09/17/2020 4:20:30 AM PDT by wita (Always and forever, under oath in defense of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.)
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To: Libloather

Holy upskirts, Batman, you don’t suppose ...


12 posted on 09/17/2020 4:33:41 AM PDT by NonValueAdded ("Sorry, your race card has been declined. Can you present any other form of argument?")
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To: USA Conservative

When I visited San Diego with my sweetheart...I like the little girl in the background...:)

Scumbag community organizers, communists, and Democrats in general can go pound sand.

13 posted on 09/17/2020 4:50:09 AM PDT by rlmorel ("Truth is Treason in the Empire of Lies"- George Orwell)
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To: rlmorel
Saw this Statue many times in San Diego as it was between the USS Midway and a seafood restaurant we frequented.

I always thought it was a little cheesy but never offensive.

14 posted on 09/17/2020 5:01:50 AM PDT by CAluvdubya (<---has now left CA for NV, where God/guns have not been outlawed! She's done and he's won!)
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To: rlmorel

Great picture!


15 posted on 09/17/2020 5:17:13 AM PDT by Made In The USA (Next thing you know, 'ol Jed's a millionaire)
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To: Moonman62

“#MeToo is fizzled out now that Bidden is the nominee.”

It will be back with a vengeance after the election, no matter who wins.


16 posted on 09/17/2020 5:33:15 AM PDT by beef (Use a VPN, use Tor, and get a shortwave radio. Oh, and ACAB- All Commies Are Bastards)
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To: Made In The USA

I keep it on my desk...:)


17 posted on 09/17/2020 6:41:38 AM PDT by rlmorel ("Truth is Treason in the Empire of Lies"- George Orwell)
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To: USA Conservative; JulieRNR21; kinganamort; katherineisgreat; floriduh voter; summer; ...

Florida Freeper

I'm compiling a list of FReepers interested in Florida-related topics.
If you want to be added, please FReepMail me.

18 posted on 09/17/2020 7:49:25 AM PDT by Joe Brower ("Might we not live in a nobler dream than this?" -- John Ruskin)
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To: USA Conservative

Just another attempt by the. left to completely erase and then re-write American history.


19 posted on 09/17/2020 9:12:47 AM PDT by Bon of Babble (In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Baby!)
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To: USA Conservative

>> ... kissing Greta Zimmer Friedman... in an interview decades after the famous encounter, Friedman said it wasn’t her choice to be kissed.

Hmmmmm ... 15 year old Jewish girl from Austria. Escapes. Parents killed in the concentration camps. Marries a nice Jewish boy - a doctor. A veteran to boot. Lives free the rest of her life as an American. Buried at Arlington.

“wasn’t her choice to be kissed”

Care to take bets as to how many questions it took a left wing reporter to get that response? (Probably ignored were answers like “we were all just caught up in celebrating”, “he was with his girlfriend; this was just a spur of the moment thing”, “We both laughed and smiled; never saw him again”.)


20 posted on 09/17/2020 9:24:35 AM PDT by QBFimi (It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world... Tarfon)
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