Sal Veder, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer who shot iconic photo of soldier returning from Vietnam, dies at age 99

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — 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. 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. Stirm and other war prisoners returning from Vietnam.

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Scoop News DeskVietnam · Published Wednesday, August 26, 2026 at 8:55 PM UTCUpdated Thursday, August 27, 2026 at 6:11 PM UTC

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Among his many assignments, Veder took photographs of the late Ronald Reagan when he was California governor, university campus protests against the war in Vietnam, the bank robbery trial of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst, and the assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk by disgruntled former city supervisor Dan White in 1978.

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