THE SMACK SEEN ROUND THE WORLD

The pretty arc of the nurse and the seaman's stylish stance made a "one in a million" composition, says Eisie. "They were very elegant, like sculpture."

For millions of Americans, Alfred Eisenstaedt's 1945 LIFE photograph of a sailor stamping a masterly kiss on a nurse symbolized the cathartic joy of V-J Day. After a celebrated five-decade career, Eisie now 81, (actually 96 in 1995) calls V-J Day, Times Square his most memorable photograph. "People tell me, 'Oh, you have taken pictures of Loren and Monroe!' But this is what they know me for." His most famous couple has long been nameless, but when the nurse recently wrote to him, a delighted Eisie visited her and took the pictures that follow.