Monument donor celebrates 90 years

Thousands of folks have taken photos at the “Unconditional Surrender” monument in Bayfront Park. How appropriate, then, that the famous photo of a sailor kissing a nurse should adorn the 90th birthday cake of Jack Curran, who donated the statue to city of Sarasota.

Long-time friends Paul Kirkham and his wife, Cyndi Fearn, and Bill and Marie Ficco shared the occasion with Curran at Michael’s On East a few days after his June 23 birthday. Curran joined the U.S. Navy on the second day of the war and served four years in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters.

“(I am) so glad that the young people are seeing the monument and beginning to understand what it represents,” Curran said.