Slava Veder, Pulitzer Prize photographer, dies at 99

Renowned Associated Press photographer Slava Veder has died at the age of 99. Veder was best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph, ‘Burst of Joy,’ which captured a poignant moment during the Vietnam War era.

On March 17, 1973, while working at the AP’s Sacramento bureau, Veder documented the arrival of 20 former American prisoners of war at Travis Air Force Base. The iconic image depicts USAF Lt. Col. Robert Stirm, who had endured years of captivity, walking toward his family on the tarmac as his daughter, Lorrie Stirm, runs toward him with open arms.

Veder, whose parents emigrated from Russia to the United States in 1923, received the Pulitzer Prize in 1974 for the work. The photograph remains a widely recognized symbol of the homecoming of American troops from Vietnam.