NEW YORK — Hundreds of couples donned sailor hats and nurse’s caps and smooched in Times Square on Saturday to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II.
The couples were re-enacting the famous Life magazine photograph of a nurse being passionately kissed by a sailor at the end of the war. A 26-foot statue replicating the original photo was also erected for the celebration.
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World War II veterans and their children on hand for the kiss said they want today’s generation to remember the sacrifices of those who fought in the war.
“I want to keep that day alive,” said Rocco Moretto, 86, a retired infantry staff sergeant now living in Queens.
Moretto, who stormed Omaha Beach on D-Day and arrived in Times Square in his uniform, kissed his friend Margie Zwick, who served in the Women’s Army Corps.
“It was terrific,” he said of the kiss. “It’s been a long time coming.”
The Keep the Spirit of ’45 Alive! grass-roots campaign was holding a series of events around the country marking the day.
Edith Shain, who said she was the nurse in the original photo, died in June at the age of 91.
Publicist: Gabor had surgery for clotting
LOS ANGELES – Zsa Zsa Gabor’s publicist says the actress underwent surgery to treat blood clotting Friday after returning to a Los Angeles hospital due to complications while recuperating from a broken hip.
Publicist John Blanchette said Saturday that the 93-year-old Gabor will be treated at the hospital for the next several days.
Gabor broke her hip July 17, had hip-replacement surgery and was sent home from the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center on Wednesday.
Rapper will face new charges
NEW YORK – Rapper Foxy Brown has been indicted on charges of violating an order of protection stemming from a 2007 confrontation with her neighbor.
Prosecutors say Brown violated the order in July by screaming at neighbor Arlene Raymond before baring her buttocks at Raymond and showing her underwear while shouting an obscenity.
The 31-year-old Brown was issued the order of protection after pleading guilty in 2008 to menacing Raymond with her cell phone.
The two had been in a dispute over Brown blasting her car stereo outside their Brooklyn building.
The indictment announced Friday charges Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand, with criminal contempt in the second degree. She could face up to one year in jail.
Partiers honor crush victims
GENEVA – Revelers at Zurich’s annual “Street Parade” festival observed a minute’s silence Saturday for the victims of a fatal stampede at a techno event in Germany last month.
Organizers stopped the floats and turned off the music at precisely 5 p.m. local time to honor the 21 people crushed to death at the Love Parade festival in the city of Duisburg on July 24.
The incident prompted organizers in Zurich to take extra security measures such as clearing obstacles and banning floats from using special effects at this year’s Street Parade.
Spokesman Stefan Epli said that 650,000 visitors attended the open-air dance party.
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