The Veterans Affairs secretary has reversed a department memo that aimed to ban VA displays of the iconic “V-J Day in Times Square” photograph of a Navy sailor kissing a strange woman on the streets of New York at the end of World War II.
Secretary Denis McDonough acted swiftly after a copy of a memo from a VA assistant undersecretary requesting the photo’s removal from all VA health facilities was shared on social media. The memo had cited the photo as depicting a non-consensual act and being inconsistent with the department's sexual harassment policy.
