The iconic photo of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square on VE Day in 1945 hangs in Peg O'Toole's living room. It was an important day for Peg — it was the day that Jimmy died. Jim had been away fighting in the war for three years at that point. Peg and their two kids had been doing alright on their own — Peg had gotten a job at a butcher shop to make some money, and she enjoyed going to work every day. She'd gotten a telegram recently, and thought it was surely a notice of Jim's death — but instead, it was a telegram from Jim himself, saying he was headed home. Peg walks to work after receiving the telegram, passing Officer Paretti at the usual corner near Times Square. He reminds her again that he doesn't like her coming home alone after work, in the dark — it's not safe, he says. On VE day, Peg's boss at the butcher shop lets her and the other employees leave early. It's a day for celebration, he says. On her way home, through Times Square, the sailor from the photo catches Peg, gives her a big kiss, and then moves on to the next woman. Peg is laughing as she rights herself, but her smile goes away as she sees Jimmy staring at her. He immediately accuses her of cheating on him and running around with other men. They start to yell, and Jim grabs her and drags her, hitting her. He shoves her down an alley and keeps beating her. Soon, she is fighting for her consciousness. She realizes that Jim could kill her. She's had enough. She pulls his knife out, which she'd brought from home and had been hiding, and stabs him in the chest. He dies, astonished, and Peg rolls up and starts screaming for help. A couple sailors and Officer Paretti come running, and Peg tells them that they were mugged and attacked. Sixty years later, Peg tells the truth to her granddaughter. Her granddaughter listens to the story and says that she thinks it was lucky Peg found that butchering job. Peg confesses that luck had nothing to do with it — she'd been searching for that job for six months.