SALT LAKE CITY — Gunshots, ship horns, lights exploding in the sky from rockets, for a moment Ora Mae Hyatt thought her hospital on Okinawa, Japan was under attack on that August night of 1945.
“There was so much noise and excitement, we wondered what happened," Hyatt said. "Then someone shouted, 'The war has ended!' And there was just so much screaming, we were all so excited."
The movie Hyatt was watching with soldiers was turned off and forgotten. Everyone was hugging everyone, she said.
Thousands of miles away in Times Square, people were doing more than hugging to celebrate the end of the war, and a picture taken at just the right moment proved it.
On Saturday Utah’s Fort Douglas Military Museum commemorated the 70th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day at the Zions National Bank building.
"I think it's extremely important that we remember our history," said retired Col. Robert Voyles, the director of the museum. "It defines who we are."
A variety of speakers gathered to celebrate the event, including Lawrence Verria, author of "The Kissing Sailor."
Verria's book discusses the true identity of the sailor and nurse in the "V-J Day, 1945, Times Square" picture.
The picture captures a sailor swooping down to kiss a woman in a white uniform — creating an "iconic" moment in history, said University of Utah American history associate professor John Reed.
"This is one of about a dozen photographs that's so well-known in American history that people know history through knowing the photo," he said.
Verria said he began writing the book with the intent of finding the true identity of the sailor. Overtime, his search led him to George Mendonsa, the sailor and Greta Zimmer Friedman, the woman in the white uniform.
This dispelled the widely accepted identity of Edith Shain as the nurse and Carl Muscarello as the sailor.
Admitting that dispelling the two seemed a little "unpatriotic," Verria said evidence from photography experts in Mendonsa's favor made him certain he had found the right sailor.
"I think a lot of people, myself included, were concerned that, 'What if I determined who's in the picture and I don't like the story? Will that ruin the picture for me?'" he said.
But Verria said knowing the identity of the man and woman in the picture only adds to the value of it.
"The truth isn't contingent on our approval," he said. "But as it turns out, I think the story is worthy of the photo."
A photo that epitomizes V-J Day, he said.
“The picture transcends time,” Verria said. “Whenever anything undesirable ends, whenever anything hurtful ends, even if it was a just cause, we still want it to end at sometime. We certainly want it to end this way, but it isn’t always the case.”
Other features of the commemoration included Brent Ashworth's display of WWII artifacts, including another famous picture of the Marines raising the American flag at Iwo Jima.
The event also highlighted the atomic bomb and aftermath of WWII.
The commemoration continues Sunday with a trip to Historic Wendover Air Base Field from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.