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> hadn't seen it before, if indeed it was ever published anywhere.

Oh, it's been published... won the Pulitzer in '74. The story on it: the soldier you see was a Vietnam war POW, had been for some years. He had just landed on American soil, was asked to go to the microphone and say a few words, and he apparently scanned the audience of well-wishers desperately looking for his family. They weren't there. He was understandably crushed, he thought they had forgetten him.

They were behind the plane, waiting for him to finish speaking, so they could have him to themselves. They had not forgetten him, as you can tell.

Photographer was Sal Veder... and he for *damned* sure deserved the Pulitzer for that one.

To find a decent quality version of the photo you'll need to look in a book... the online versions all seem to be pretty small. Copyright issue, I suppose.

Higher rez online images of this are hard to find.

From: http://alt.tnt.tv/specials/moi/photo_pow.html
Slava Veder had been assigned to cover the intended release of American POWs out of Saigon. Now, returning stateside, Veder found himself covering the arrivals at Travis Air Force Base in California.
On March 17, 1973, Veder watched as a giant C-141 arrived on the tarmac. Aboard the plane was Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Stirm, a POW who had not seen his family for six years.
Numerous other families and well-wishers lined the gates near the plane's final destination to greet the POWs. As commanding officer, and expected to say a few words, Stirm would be the final person to emerge from the plane.
As Stirm stepped forward to the microphone to address the crowd, he searched the faces for those of his family. Unbeknownst to Stirm, the family had been sequestered behind the plane. Stirm completed his remarks, but was crestfallen as he did not see his family. He was about to get the surprise of a lifetime.
Veder stepped in quickly and began documenting the moments as the family broke from their position behind Stirm. It had been six years since the Stirm family had been united. Sal Veder captured their burst of joy. The photo ran in papers across the country, from the Associated Press wire. It also garnered Veder a Pulitzer Prize.

Stirm’s daughter, Lorrie, 15, followed by son Robert, 14; daughter Cynthia, 11; wife Loretta; and son Roger, 12.