Full Military Funeral Honors with Escort are Conducted for U.S. Air Force Col. Robert Stirm in Section 57 [Image 17 of 23]

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES

07.29.2026

Photo by Elizabeth Fraser   

Arlington National Cemetery   

Airmen from the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard, airmen from the U.S. Air Force Band’s Ceremonial Brass and soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) Caisson Detachment conduct full military funeral honors with escort for U.S. Air Force Col. Robert Stirm in Section 57 at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, July 29, 2026.

Stirm entered active duty with the U.S. Air Force in November 1953 when he was 21 years old. In 1967, during the Vietnam War, Stirm was serving with the 333rd Tactical Fighter Squadron based in Thailand. During a bombing mission on Oct. 27, his F-105 Thunderchief was hit, causing Stirm to eject. He was shot three times while parachuting to the ground, where the North Vietnamese captured him as a prisoner of war (POW).

For 1,966 days, Stirm was held captive in North Vietnamese prison, including the notorious “Hanoi Hilton.”

He was finally released as part of “Operation Homecoming,” which repatriated 591 American POWs from Vietnam following the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973. On March 17, 1973, Stirm reunited with his family on the tarmac of Travis Air Force Base in California. As his wife and four children ran to embrace him, Associated Press photographer Slava “Sal” Veder snapped a photo that would win him a Pulitzer Prize, which Veder titled “Burst of Joy.”

Lorrie Stirm Kitching, Stirm's eldest daughter, received the U.S. flag from her father’s funeral service.

(U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery / released)

• Date Taken: 07.29.2026
• Date Posted: 07.29.2026 15:53
• Photo ID: 9838737
• VIRIN: 260729-A-IW468-8238
• Resolution: 7409x4939
• Size: 8.73 MB
• Location: ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, US