Posted on Nov 27, 2013
What is your favorite historical military photo?
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Please post your favorite (historical) military photo in this thread and vote for your favorite. I'll start off with what is one of the greatest moments captured on film, the flag raising on Iwo Jima, plus a few more angles that are rarely seen.<div><br></div><div>Please add your favorite historical photos... they can be as old as the Civil War or as recent as Afghanistan (they don't need to be black and white!).</div>
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Posted 12 y ago
Responses: 79
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<div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Burst of Joy: A U.S. POW's return from captivity in Vietnam in 1973 </div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br></div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">From left to right, Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm, Lorrie Stirm, Bo Stirm, Cindy Stirm, Loretta Stirm, and Roger Stirm.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br></div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Photo: Slava Veder, AP, Travis AFB, March 17, 1973, (Pullitzer Prize, 1974)</div></div>
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Burst of Joy: A U.S. POW's return from captivity in Vietnam in 1973
By Carolyn Kleiner Butler, Smithsonian Magazine, January 2005
Sitting in the back seat of a station wagon on the tarmac at Travis Air Force Base, in California, clad in her favorite fuchsia miniskirt, 15-year-old Lorrie Stirm felt that she was in a dream. It was March 17, 1973, and it had been six long years since she had last seen her father, Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm, an Air Force fighter pilot who was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 and had been missing or imprisoned ever since. She simply couldn't believe they were about to be reunited. The teenager waited while her father stood in front of a jubilant crowd and made a brief speech on behalf of himself and other POW's who had arrived from Vietnam as part of "Operation Homecoming."
The minutes crept by like hours, she recalls, and then, all at once, the car door opened. "I just wanted to get to Dad as fast as I could," Lorrie says. She tore down the runway toward him with open arms, her spirits—and feet—flying. Her mother, Loretta, and three younger siblings—Robert Jr., Roger and Cindy—were only steps behind. "We didn't know if he would ever come home," Lorrie says. "That moment was all our prayers answered, all our wishes come true."
Associated Press photographer Slava "Sal" Veder, who'd been standing in a crowded bullpen with dozens of other journalists, noticed the sprinting family and started taking pictures. "You could feel the energy and the raw emotion in the air," says Veder, then 46, who had spent much of the Vietnam era covering antiwar demonstrations in San Francisco and Berkeley. The day was overcast, meaning no shadows and near-perfect light. He rushed to a makeshift darkroom in a ladies' bathroom on the base (United Press International had commandeered the men's). In less than half an hour, Veder and his AP colleague Walt Zeboski had developed six remarkable images of that singular moment. Veder's pick, which he instantly titled Burst of Joy, was sent out over the news-service wires, published in newspapers around the nation and went on to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1974.
It remains the quintessential homecoming photograph of the time. Stirm, 39, who had endured gunshot wounds, torture, illness, starvation and despair in North Vietnamese prison camps, including the infamous Hanoi Hilton, is pictured in a crisp new uniform. Because his back is to the camera, as Veder points out, the officer seems anonymous, an everyman who represented not only the hundreds of POW's released that spring but all the troops in Vietnam who would return home to the mothers, fathers, wives, daughters and sons they'd left behind. "It's a hero's welcome for guys who weren't always seen or treated as heroes," says Donald Goldstein, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and a coauthor of The Vietnam War: The Stories and The Photographs, of the Stirm family reunion picture. "After years of fighting a war we couldn't win, a war that tore us apart, it was finally over, and the country could start healing." . . . .
Three decades after the Stirm reunion, the scene, having appeared in countless books, anthologies and exhibitions, remains part of the nation's collective consciousness, often serving as an uplifting postscript to Vietnam. . . .
"We have this very nice picture of a very happy moment," Lorrie says, "but every time I look at it, I remember the families that weren't reunited, and the ones that aren't being reunited today—many, many families—and I think, I'm one of the lucky ones."
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/coming-home-106013338
SSgt Gregory Guina
Raining of the flag on My Suribachi of course.
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SFC William Laws. You are entirely correct. There was more to the story than was captured on film. Three days before Robert Stirm landed at Travis, a chaplain had handed him a Dear John letter from his wife. "I can't help but feel ambivalent about it," Stirm says today of the photograph. "I was very pleased to see my children—I loved them all and still do, and I know they had a difficult time—but there was a lot to deal with." They were divorced within a year of his return. Loretta Stirm remarried in 1974 and lives in Texas with her husband. Robert Stirm retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1977 and worked as a corporate pilot and businessman. He remarried and was divorced again. He retired in Foster City, California. Warmest Regards, Sandy
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This photo of Gen Eisenhower always strikes a cord with me. I look at the faces of the paratroopers from the 101st and they remind me of the faces we had in March 2003 when OPORD Desert Eagle went into motion.
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2LT (Join to see)
I was told a funny story about this picture: Gen Eisenhower used to travel around with a number of pretty ladies, who these soldiers were more excited to see than the General. The LT captured in this historic picture rushed forward to catch a glance/speak to some of the Generals female Aides and ended up being captured in one of the most historic pictures in 101 history.
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MAJ Weiss,
This looks like Khe Sanh, Vietnam, 1968. Any additional details?
Warmest Regards, Sandy
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SPC David S.
This is Con Thien 'The Hill Of The Angels', north of the town of Cam Lo, and just south of the southern border of the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Vietnam at the the Ben Hai River.
David Douglas Duncan, a famous Marine photographer who served from World War II through Vietnam took this photo in 1967.
David Douglas Duncan, a famous Marine photographer who served from World War II through Vietnam took this photo in 1967.
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While it might not be iconic it is historical. This is a photo of my good childhood friend SFC Chris Robinson coming home. He was the first soldier from the Mississippi National Guard to be killed in action in Afghanistan. With the contrast of the colors flanked by the subdued colors of the surrounding soldiers to me so profoundly represents sacrifice and honor. I have this on my desk at work.
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The first pic is of my plt on afghan-Pakistan boarder and the second one is CTNG pilot recovering wounded after a fire fight also in Afghanistan.
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CMC Robert Young
If I remember correctly the pilot from the photo on the right was reservist. He flew life flight helos for one of the hospital systems some place on the east coast. Pretty gutsy move!
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LTC Jason Bartlett
Photo on the right is 2-22 IN, 1 BDE, 10th Mtn during Operation Mountain Resolve November 2003. Chinook pilot was named Larry Murphy, from the PA ARNG.
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SPC David S.
Awesome pic of your plt SFC (Join to see) . I wish I would have taken more pics when I was in like this. You couldn't create or stage this picture if you tried. This captures a moment time. Thanks for sharing.
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This is certainly not a famous picture to the general population, but it sure is to me. This is a picture of my Grandfather holding a picture of him when he was in the service. He is an original member of the Merrill's Marauders. I am sure those of you that are into military history, you will know that the Merrill's Marauders (5307th Composite Unit (Provisional)), eventually became the 75th Ranger Regiment. It holds the distinction of the only unit where all the members were awarded the Bronze Star.
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SPC James Mcneil
My great uncle was in Merrill's Marauders. I used to love listening to his stories.
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A picture of a WWII Marine in Saipan by Eugene Smith. One of the greatest mid-century photographers.
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SPCGasho (Chaney).
Thank you so much for this additional information. Indeed, time, distance, and the fog of war make it difficult to be certain about anything.
My staff believes this is PFC T E Underwood for many reasons.
We can only do our best to try to accurately identify and then to remember our forebearers accurately.
Warmest Regards, Sandy
SPC(P) Delcina Myers
Good observation, Sir. I didn't notice the uniform and the difference between Marines' and Armys from back in WWII. Well, now we know who this person is. Lol. <div><br></div><div>And 1LT Annala, I would vote your comment up, but apparently I ran out of "vote ups" for the day. I will have to get you later on that, ma'am.</div>
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CMDCM Gene Treants
Well it is a good thing neither this Marine or Soldier was subject to Upcoming Army rules of Shaving. Neither would have made it. Speaking of which, is there a combat exemption? LOL
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SGT Leigh Barton
Depends on whether you have a fine enough stone to sharpen your bayonet for the task.
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The badassery of this is off the charts. You will have to read the caption on the photo. This is what being infantry is all about.
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MAJ (Join to see)
This picture hangs in the 3rd BCT HQ building. I have always loved it. Panther Recon! AATW!
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Retired MAJ (then CPT) Richard Meadows, assault force commander with BLUEBOY element during TF IVORY COAST rehearsals at Eglin AFB.<br>
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CPT Aaron Kletzing
SFC Callan, I'd like to know more details on this. Can you share more info on the TF and what happened?
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1SG(P) (Join to see)
TF IVORY COAST was the joint organization that executed the Son Tay raid to repatriate US POWs from a camp in North Vietnam. The mission launched from Thailand on 21NOV70. The deputy commander was COL Arthur "Bull" Simmons who coincidentally was awarded the Silver Star for participating in the Cabanatuan Prison Raid in WWII.
The raid's execution was almost flawless. However, an intelligence failure led the assaulters to find that the targeted compound was abandoned. The mission established that a well trained and coordinated force could infiltrate a denied area, execute a coordinated attack, and exfiltrate successfully.
The Wikipedia article is quite accurate: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ivory_Coast
The raid's execution was almost flawless. However, an intelligence failure led the assaulters to find that the targeted compound was abandoned. The mission established that a well trained and coordinated force could infiltrate a denied area, execute a coordinated attack, and exfiltrate successfully.
The Wikipedia article is quite accurate: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ivory_Coast
Operation Ivory Coast was a failed rescue mission conducted in North Vietnam during the Vietnam War by United States Special Operations Forces and other elements of the U.S. military.
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