Community Corner
Photographer Of Iconic Vietnam War Photo "Burst Of Joy" Dies At 99
"He was a newsman at heart. It wasn't just a career for him. It was really his passion," said his daughter, Kathleen Daly.
August 27, 2026
Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Slava 'Sal' Veder, best known for his picture of a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel joyfully reuniting with his family after five years in a prisoner of war camp in Vietnam, died Aug. 22. He was 99.
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Veder's family on Wednesday confirmed that the retired Associated Press photojournalist died in his sleep, just eight days shy of his 100th birthday, at his home in El Dorado County, California, outside of Sacramento.
The San Francisco Bay Area native was 46 years old in March 1973 when he was sent to Travis Air Force Base for the arrival of Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm and other war prisoners returning from Vietnam. Veder was in a crowded bullpen jockeying for pictures with dozens of other photographers when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Stirm's four children begin to gallop toward their father.
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