1974 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography
Courtesy Associated Press
An American prisoner of war returns home.
Photo by Slava Veder.

Veder began his reporting career when he informed a journalist on his hometown newspaper that he wrote better than people working for the paper and the newspaper hired him. After working as a reporter and photographer on several California newspapers, he took a job at the Tulsa World. He returned to California and worked for the Oakland Tribune. Veder was a staff photographer for the Associated Press when he won the Pulitzer for his photo of Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm's reunion with his family, whom he had not seen for six years. The photo was taken at Travis Air Force Base in California. Veder clearly recognizes that great photographs require a lucky combination of time, place, and circumstance. Now retired, Veder lives in California and volunteers with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
[Source: "Capture the Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs" Catalog]