Prisoner of war bracelet returned to daughter photographed in “Burst of Joy”

By Steve Large

It’s a touching tribute for the family of a Vietnam War prisoner of war who was the subject of an iconic photo at Travis Air Force Base.

Lorrie Kitching opened a delivery on the anniversary of her late father Lt. Col. Robert Stirm’s shoot-down date, Oct. 27, 1967.

“This isn’t just a piece of metal,” Kitching said. “It represents so much more.”

Inside, a POW bracelet, with Kitching’s father’s name inscribed on it, including the shoot-down date, when Lorrie was just 10 years old. 

“It’s the day I lost my Dad, and I didn’t know if he was going to be coming home,” Kitching said.

The bracelet sent to her home had belonged to a boy named Rob Potyraj in Michigan. All these years later, after he passed, his wife found the bracelet in his belongings.

“And I was like, ‘Oh, this is unbelievable,'” Mary Kay Potyraj said. 

Mary Kay Potyraj found CBS13’s story about Lt. Colonel Stirm and his daughter, and emailed to help get the bracelet back to her. 

“So, I just did my best to figure out where this person is; is there a family that would like to have it,” Potyraj said. 

Kitching’s father was released from captivity in 1972, and a photographer, Slava Veder, captured him as she ran to meet him with her arms outstretched in a reunion now known as “Burst of Joy.” It won a Pulitzer Prize.

The POW bracelets became part of a movement across the U.S. during the Vietnam War, with children wearing them as a way to show solidarity with the men being held captive.

Enclosed with the bracelet, Mary Kay Potyraj also wrote Lorrie Kitching a letter.

“And she starts, ‘Dear Lorrie, so happy to reunite you with your father’s POW bracelet,” Kitching said. 

The dedicated effort to deliver it to family made a bittersweet anniversary all the more special. 

“Thank you, Mary Kay, this is beautiful,” Kitching said.

Lieutenant Colonel Stirm was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery earlier this year. He was 92 years old.