He had a tough homecoming.
“Despite outward appearances, the reunion was an unhappy one for Stirm. Three days before he arrived in the United States, the same day he was released from captivity, Stirm received a Dear John letter from his wife Loretta informing him that their marriage was over. Stirm later learned that Loretta had been seeing other men throughout his captivity and had received marriage proposals from three of them.
In 1974, the Stirms divorced and Loretta remarried, and he was ordered to provide her with 42.9% of his military pension once he retired from the Air Force, although the divorce judge stated that much evidence was presented to the court of Loretta’s infidelity while Stirm was a prisoner.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burst_of_Joy
“Loretta died on August 13, 2010, from cancer”
She deserved nothing from him.
I believe that two oldest children chose to go with their father. But the judge gave custody of the two youngest to her.
There might be something out there more low down than doing what she did… but I sure cannot imagine what it would be.
So why did she get over 42% of his pension? Explains why she is in the back of the photo and his 2 daughters are in front.