Almost every American is familiar with the famous 1945 photograph of “The Kiss”: a World War II sailor sweeping a nurse into his arms for a spontaneous kiss, celebrating V-Day with thousands of others in New York’s Times Square. On April 23rd, the city of Crown Point honored the image so synonymous with American culture by installing a 25-foot-tall sculpture of the couple.
Titled “Embracing Peace” by American artist Seward Johnson, the statue’s new home rests near the entrance of Legacy Fields Sportsplex. Previously, the sculpture has lived in such locations as Rome, Italy and Times Square in New York City. Recreating the iconic moment, the sculpture will serve as both a conversation piece and a bridge to a dynamic point in history.
Kent Loosemore, a Crown Point resident who came to watch the statue’s installation, remembers being a child when America fought in World War II.
“I think it’s great,” Loosemore said of the sculpture. “It’s part of history; it takes us back to World War II. I lived through that time as a kid.”
Loosemore liked that the image conjures victory rather than strife, paying tribute to the past in a joyful way.
“[The photograph symbolized] the end of a lot of turmoil in our country at that time,” Loosemore said.
Loosemore enjoys capturing his own moments with the camera he brings everywhere. He hoped to get some good ones of the “Embracing Peace” installation so that he could share them with family and the City of Crown Point.
“I’m very interested in what Crown Point does to bring people in,” Loosemore said. “I moved here when I was 4 and I’m almost 81 now so I’ve watched Crown Point grow and expand…I left here in ’73 and came back in ’85. Been here ever since!”
A crane carried the sculpture over the heads of the onlookers and into place. Drivers passing by on the street slowed their cars to watch the spectacle, some of them even venturing to roll down their windows and shout their approval.
Portage resident Misty Mason was among the onlookers. Mason’s husband, Larry, was operating the crane. While it’s not every day that Mason drives out to watch her husband do his job, she said that today’s task was one she couldn’t miss.
“I had to see this,” Mason said. “I mean, look at that, it’s a slice of history. It was ‘the kiss heard ‘round the world!’ Whatever you want to call it, it’s really cool that this statue is going up.”
Mason and her mother paused in their picture-taking to look up historic facts about the couple behind the kiss; many others pulled out their phones to do the same.
The youngest crowd member was undoubtedly a boy named Reagan, who watched with his grandfather, Joel Martinez. Martinez said the statue held a special place in his heart.
“Reagan’s great-grandpa, Harold Borem, was a sailor,” Martinez said. “This statue represents a lot to him.”
Martinez said that Borem suffered from asbestos exposure due to his time on the ships, and that he is currently not doing so well. Martinez and his family donated to have Borem’s name inscribed on a placard, alongside several other veterans’ names. The placard will accompany the “Embracing Peace” sculpture, and later be relocated to a permanent military exhibit Crown Point is planning.
“We’re here today for him,” Martinez said. “I hope that I can bring him here so that he can see it for himself.”
With personal ties recognized and new ties forming, “Embracing Peace” is shaping out to be a worthy addition to the Crown Point community.
