[2] Trained as a photographer, he served in the Pacific during World War II and then covered D.C. as a tough-talking news cameraman.

[3] His photo of a soldier crumpled with despair and holding his muddy face in his hands was selected by Military Times as one of the one hundred most-enduring images captured in combat.

[9][10] Tretick complained, "The worst part of being hit while on assignment is that some other photographer scoops you with a sensational shot of you getting belted.

As Laura Bergquist of Look wrote about a battle over Tretick's photos of Caroline, Kennedy "was a reasonable man, open to persuasion, especially in matters of self-interest.".

Tretick's uncanny understanding of the symbolic value of such imagery allowed him to focus on small humanistic moments within the power and politics of Washington.

While Jacqueline Kennedy was out of the country, Tretick was allowed to join the father and son, walking the halls of the White House and playing together in the Oval Office.

Tretick's photo of the moment John, Jr., popped out from under the President's desk, with Kennedy seated behind, encapsulates the myth of Camelot.

In addition to his news work, Tretick did special still photography for movies, becoming friends with Robert Redford, Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman and others.

[23] Tretick died in July 1999 at the age of 78, just days after John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s plane crashed off the coast of Martha's Vineyard.