Vietnam War POW Robert Stirm, seen in iconic 'Burst of Joy' photo with family, dies at 92
Source: AP
By KATHY McCORMACK
Updated 2:48 PM CST, November 20, 2025
It’s the ultimate homecoming photo — a smiling family rushing to reunite with a U.S. Air Force officer in 1973 who spent years as a POW in North Vietnam, his oldest daughter sprinting ahead with her arms outstretched, both feet off the ground.
“Burst of Joy,” the iconic black-and-white image capturing the Stirm family at Travis Air Force Base in California, was published in newspapers throughout the nation. Taken by Associated Press photographer Sal Veder, it won a Pulitzer Prize and has continued to resonate through the years, a symbol of the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
On Veterans Day, retired Col. Robert Stirm, seen in the photo in uniform with his back to the camera, died at an assisted living facility in Fairfield, California, his daughter, Lorrie Stirm Kitching, confirmed Thursday. He was 92.
“It’s right in my front foyer,” Kitching, 68, of Mountain View, said of the photo. She was 15 when that moment of her running to hug her father was forever preserved.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/vietnam-pow-photo-family-homecoming-stirm-eb6c56f2f2259f0ae10cb782c927d5c8
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The Vietnam War changed all of us.
Rest in Peace Col. Robert Stirm