First: The late Chris Hondros, who died of wounds received in battle yesterday, was a contributor to the site Bag News Notes, which has a post this morning about him and Tim Hetherington, as well as links to his articles.
Michael Shaw writes, "Speaking of Chris, in particular (I didn’t know Tim), he would expect us to keep up the work, to keep shining the light, and we shall, using his great skill and dedication—an impressively high bar—as inspiration."
UPDATE: There is an appreciation of Tim Hetherington written by his friend and collaborator, writer Sebastian Junger (author of The Perfect Storm) at Vanity Fair, and Foreign Policy has a remembrance of Chris Hondros, written by Christina Larson.
Seeing a cropped version of the picture above yesterday in the Denver Post's pLOG Viet Nam page (it's picture no. 124), I was reminded that sometimes pictures can become perfect emblems of something they actually don't quite represent—although in this case, the reality is also symbolic, albeit in a different way than meets the eye. The photograph was the career high point for former Associated Press photographer Slava J. "Sal" Veder, who titled it "Burst of Joy." He won the Pulitzer Prize for it in 1974.
Taken on March 17th, 1973, it shows a newly freed prisoner of war, Air Force pilot Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm, being greeted by his wife, Loretta, and his four children, Robert Jr., Lorrie, Cynthia, and Roger. The center of the picture, visually and emotionally, is 15-year-old Lorrie Stirm, obviously overjoyed at her father's safe return. That Lt. Col. Stirm has his back to the camera made it easy for viewers to see him as a symbol of all the returning troops and freed POWs at the end of the war.
On the surface a symbol of families joyfully reuniting in the aftermath of the conflict, the reality was not quite so rosy—although perhaps just as symbolic, in that the war that had torn the country apart had also torn this family apart. On his release three days earlier from more than five years in North Vietnamese prisoner of war camps, Lt. Col. Stirm had received a "Dear John letter" from Loretta informing him that she had moved on in his absence. They divorced a year later.
According to various articles about the picture, Sal Veder sent prints of the photograph to all the people in it. A 2005 article about the family in Smithsonian magazine, however, reports that "All four of Robert Stirm Sr.'s children [including Lorrie Stirm Kitching, now 53 and the mother of two sons] have a copy of Burst of Joy hanging in a place of honor on their walls. But he says he can't bring himself to display the picture."
Lt. Col. Stirm, now 78, and Sal Veder, 84, are both retired now, and live in different cities in California.
Mike
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Original contents copyright 2011 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
Featured Comment by Jerome: "The Dear John part is sad, and shows one of the consequences of war. And I agree, it can be seen in the photo that he returns to a familiy that has changed. But then, that's not the point. If anything, this photo shows the joy of father and children being reunited. And the children all showing with pride the photo of this event, proves that their joy and the bond between father and children are stronger than divorces and wars."
Featured Comment by Bill Mitchell: "A good example of how a tiny crop of the original image turns it from a great picture into a good one. H.C.-B. had it right."
Featured Comment by Ed Kirkpatrick: "Thank you! Mike for the link to the Viet Nam retrospective. There are so many heart wrenching images but every time I see Sal Veder's 'Burst of Joy' photograph I have a physical reaction and am nearly overcome. The joy evident is palpable and I love the way that every family member in the shot has at least one foot in the air except for the serviceman. Talk about the 'Decisive Moment.' Having experienced a reunion with my son returning from his first tour of duty in Iraq I know very well the utter joy that they are feeling.
"I can remember this day so clearly, watching the POWs returning after the war. For those who lived it, this is a great retrospective seen with 35 years distance. For those who are too young these photographs are must viewing. Never Forget those who did not come back."
[Ed is a regular reader of TOP. His email sig says, "Proud Father of Sgt. Scott Lange Kirkpatrick / KIA 8-11-2007 Arab Jabour, Iraq, #3685 / Bronze Star, Purple Heart, State of Maryland Patriot Medal, missed terribly." —MJ]
Call me cynical, but when I looked at Loretta's exuberant shoulder floral arrangement this morning (I've seen the photograph before, but never noticed Mom), I sensed she was faking it big time.
Posted by: Jim McDermott | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 12:02 PM
The daughter's enthusiasm seemingly far beyond that of his wife's created for me an initial gut feeling that something was wrong. And that was before I read the Dear John part.
Posted by: MJFerron | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 12:15 PM
The Dear John part is sad, and shows one of the consequences of war. And I agree, it can be seen in the photo that he returns to a familiy that has changed. But then, that's not the point. If anything, this photo shows the joy of father and children being reunited. And the children all showing with pride the photo of this event, proves that their joy and the bond between father and children are stronger than divorces and wars.
Posted by: Jerome | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 12:57 PM
Tom Hetherington is one of those people who had such an impact on how we get our news. He did amazing work in Liberia called Long Story Bit By Bit: Liberia Retold. He compiled drawings, photographs and interviews over a five year period. RIP.
Posted by: Ben Gebo | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 01:32 PM
I would argue that his wife, not the war, tore his family apart, but that's just me. Terrific photo without the back story, sad photo with. Amazing how context changes your opinion of a photo.
Posted by: Yohan | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 02:25 PM
Such a sad, sad story. How very sad.
Posted by: Ken | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 02:31 PM
I'm reminded of Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers" which I thought was an excellent and enlightening account of how the symbolism projected onto a photograph can betray a less ideal, but more truthful, reality. In that instance, the film suggests the truth was actively suppressed to avoid sabotaging the symbolic power of the image to sell war bonds. The tagline says it all:
"All it takes to win is the right picture."
Posted by: Adrian | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 02:33 PM
I heard Gary Winogrand say something like a photo can't tell a story. It just describes the scene, and the viewer tells the story. I think we view the photograph through slightly corrective lenses ground with personal experience. My story would be that a reunion like this would likely be fraught with mixed emotions from the wife regardless of her intentions. Kids and young adults would be much more likely to be less conditional or reserved with their joy.
Posted by: John Sartin | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 03:14 PM
From the article; "and it took a while to let him back into our lives". I'm guessing he came back a very different person after his wartime experiences. Integrating back into his family and moving on with his life would have been a monumental challenge.
Posted by: John | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 04:17 PM
I don't think that I've ever seen the full frame of this photograph. Seeing it here, I actually think it is better *with* the addition of the figure on the far left of the picture. For me, it takes the event and the moment out of isolation somehow and places it in a wider world.
Posted by: Roger Overall | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 06:12 PM
"I would argue that his wife, not the war, tore his family apart, but that's just me."
I really don't know. I don't know the people involved or what the situation was in detail. I suspect, though, that he would have been listed as MIA (missing in action) for much of the 5+ years he was in prison, and lots of those guys were presumed dead. (As many of them were.) So it's quite possible that if she had hope of his return she would have waited, but in the belief that he was unlikely to return she might have had to face the decision at some point to get on with her life. I'm sure I've read other stories where this is the case, although, again, I know nothing about these people specifically.
The flip side of the same coin are people--and there were some, I'm sure I've read about them--who held out hope for one, two, or even more decades after the war that their MIA relatives would still be found alive. I'm not saying I wouldn't do the same thing myself, and I'm definitely not criticizing anyone's choice, but at some point, if they've put their lives on hold, I imagine it might begin to impede their progress in life if they don't move on.
Tough choices any way you slice it.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Johnston | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 06:41 PM
I respectfully disagree with Jim McDermott and MJFerron. To me, the daughter's reaction is what makes this photograph. Forget the mother and the back-story of a failing marriage. That girl's human emotion is what makes this a great image.
I may be biased, in that I am a soldier who returned from war, and I have a daughter who is now the age of Lorrie Stirm in the image. Nevertheless, the real power in this image is not with the carping reality of a mother who will always have her children, but the unexpected joy of a father who never thought that he would ever see his children again, and his children who never thought that they would see him again.
Truly, this is a moment in time.
Posted by: James | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 07:24 PM
James,
Oh, no question. It's still a great picture, absolutely, for the reasons you say.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Johnston | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 07:33 PM
Should be on your great photography book list.
Posted by: Bill Mitchell | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 08:12 PM
I'm not positive about this (but I'm pretty sure), but I believe that another newspaper photographer was standing right next to Slava Veder when he took "Burst of Joy" and took a virtually identical photograph at almost exactly the same instant, and published the photograph in his newspaper. Because Veder's went out on the AP Wire, and was published nationally, his became famous and he won the Pulitzer. The other guy's photo...fffffft. LIfe sucks and then you die.
JC
Posted by: John Camp | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 08:40 PM
Perhaps you'd consider posting the 1972 'napalm girl' picture of Nick Ut which has similar 'story behind the symbol' connotations.
Posted by: peter | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 09:10 PM
Peter,
See here:
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2007/06/what_a_change_i.html
Mike
Posted by: Mike Johnston | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 09:15 PM
Thanks Mike...your memory serves you better than mine. I have to suppose then that you have posted yet another 'story behind the symbol' picture...the one of eddie adams, as well...
Posted by: peter | Thursday, 21 April 2011 at 11:01 PM
JC,
Makes me think of Bob Jackson and Jack Beers and their split-second separated photos of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald.
Posted by: Yohan | Friday, 22 April 2011 at 01:39 AM
James,
In my pathetic way, I was attempting to be darkly humorous. My perception doesn't quite run to gauging the state of service marriages from over-sized floral arrangements. I'd need chicken giblets for that.
Posted by: Jim McDermott | Friday, 22 April 2011 at 06:15 AM
The Vietnam era "photo" I'll never forget was Life magazine's photo spread that showed the faces of U.S. personnel who had died in one week of the war. No scenes of death and destruction (and no photos of the Vietnamese who had been killed). Just all those young faces, row after row, page after page.
Posted by: latent_image | Friday, 22 April 2011 at 07:55 AM
@ Jim McDermott,
I'm sure you are right. Chicken giblets are what most of us need to see into the future. Nevertheless, it is true to say that having had no contact with his family for nearly six years, Lt Col Stirm was handed a letter from his wife on release from Hanoi - a couple of days before this picture was shot - that said that she had "moved on". It must have made the reunion very difficult for both of them. I struggle to put myself into his - or her - position, but there is the simple humanity of his child running at him with such open emotion.
Posted by: James | Friday, 22 April 2011 at 07:41 PM