Seoul, South Korea, February 1954: Today, June 1, would have been Marilyn Monroe’s 97th birthday, so we would like to celebrate with this 1954 photo which captured her arrival in Seoul.

“Whoops of joy filled the air as Marilyn Monroe waves an exuberant hello as she prepares to debark from the plane that carried her to Seoul. Professionals and non-professionals snapped cameras fast and furiously when the blond heat wave struck the shimmering pose in the upper right photo. Later, throngs of troops with pounding hearts watched as the platinum bombshell began to whirl away to the 7th Division on her first chopper ride,” the original caption read. Monroe visited South Korea for a short but, no doubt for many, a heart-stopping tour. She accompanied husband Joe DiMaggio as he flew to Japan to assist the Japan Central League start training for the 1954 season, but Monroe detoured with a jaunt to South Korea to entertain the troops.

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