'Unconditional Surrender Statue' San Diego, The Story behind the statue
Near The USS Midway by the Waterfront of San-Diego , There is a huge statue called 'Unconditional Surrender' of a sailor kissing a nurse. We arrived at the statue when the sun went down. The place was crowded with couples kissing and photographing themselves with the statue in the background assuming the same pose. The mixture of the Sea, the Sunset and the huge statue made it a very unique experience.
The Statue intrigued us so we decided to find the story behind it. Below is what we figured out from the Internet.
The statue, 'Unconditional Surrender' is based on a famous photo that was taken by the photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt on August 14, 1945, the V-J day (Victory over Japan). The sculptor of the statue is Seward Johnson, who claimed that it was based on a similar, less well known, photograph by Victor Jorgensen. In 2007 a temporary foam and urethane prototype of the statue was given to the city by The Sculpture Foundation. In 2012, the city decided to replace it when it began looking warn. A new statue cost 1$ Million and the money was raised in three month. Seven San Diegans donated $100,000 each to the campaign. The USS Midway Museum also donated $100,000. The remaining donations from residents ranged from $10 to $10,000. In 2013 the new
statue was placed.
The statue is 25 ft tall, wight 7 tons, made of Bronze. It was created in New Jersey by the sculptor Seward Johnson.
