Nick Ut saved Kim Phuc's life after taking a photo of her.
Kim Phuc said shehated the photo and the world saw her naked and in pain.
Nick Ut and Kim Phuc became lifelong friends after seeing the photo of the napalm girl.
After spending 14 months in the hospital recovering from her burns, Kim Phuc finally saw the photo of herself that haunted the world. I saw my face in pain. I hated that picture.
The image on the front page of numerous international newspapers changed the world and altered the course of the Vietnam War.
On June 8, 1972, Phuc was a 9-year-old growing up in the shadow of the Vietnam War when a napalm bomb exploded in the tiny village of Trang Bang. She was 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 The pain of her naked silhouette pleading in agony is felt by her brothers and cousins.
The gut-wrenching moment could have been lost to history if not for a plucky 21-year-old photographer.
The singular image, officially titled "The Terror of War", but affectionately known as "Napalm Girl", transformed both their lives, and forged a lifelong bond between photographer and subject. The path to publishing the Pulitzer Prize-winning image was heart-breaking.
Nick Ut was an AP photographer who was working in the bloody war for many years.
After taking the photo, he saw Phuc's distress and saw that her skin was coming off. He personally delivered her to the hospital, using his media muscle to make sure she received medical attention. She was written off as too injured to survive and placed in a mortuary.
He saved the young girl's life by capturing the tragic toll of war on innocents. The world was almost deprived of seeing the bitter realities of war.
He recalled that some editors asked him to change the image because of the nudity. The original image ran intact, leading to a lot of hand-wringing about US involvement, and ending the 20-year battle some two years later.
Phuc was eternally grateful. I owe him for the way he saved my life by taking my picture. He brought me to the hospital with his camera.
Ut felt the same way.
Ut told Insider that he saved Kim's life after taking her photos. At their meeting in Cuba where she was studying medicine, Phuc wanted to tell her beloved Uncle Ut how she yearned to flee their homeland. He moved to LA two years after fleeing after the fall of Saigon.
Phuc said he wanted to scream, but he knew they would be in trouble.
She was granted political asylum thousands of miles from her homeland and settled near Toronto with her husband and two sons.
Ut married and had two children, putting down roots in Hollywood and shooting for the AP for decades. He left the camera he used to shoot Phuc in a museum.
Phuc said she wanted to escape that picture when she got freedom in Canada.
Phuc, who has been through 17 operations and 11 laser treatments, tried to cultivate her own personal constitution on her own terms.
She said that she could protect children around the world because of her freedom. For all its horror and humanity, Phuc made peace with the photo and all it represented, with anger giving way to acceptance and gratitude, and I went back to embrace that picture and work with it for peace. The moment became a powerful gift for me.
The impact and resonance of the photo was felt for a long time. Ut recalled that he didn't want to die in Vietnam.
The image shows how children suffer in warfare and how napalm can cause long-term damage to skin and tissue. The US and South Korea used napalm extensively to set fire to the fighters. Concerns about its terrifying affects persuaded the US to destroy its stock and agree not to use it or other incendiaries against military targets.
Ut and Phuc would visit the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington and meet the Queen Elizabeth some 20 years later. They had an audience with the Pope, who was given a signed, framed photo of the error of war.
Phuc insisted on the image being a force for good after Facebook briefly removed it for violating its standards. That picture is not what you think. The picture shows the horror that children suffer.
Shortly afterwards, it was restored.
As the seminal 50th anniversary nears, it is a mix of complicated emotions while taking stock of their lives and the world. The Fotografiska Museum in NYC will host Phuc and Ut to discussconic war photography.
Her lessons of survival are still relevant today. Phuc channels her half-century worth of wisdom as she sees the images of children injured and fleeing from Ukraine. She said that the most important lessons from the Vietnam War should not be lost.
She is propelled toward life and healing by her scars.
Phuc said that he was a victim of war with regard to that picture.
She said that the act of resilience is a choice.
I always make a decision in my life to be a victim with bitterness and hatred forever. I don't have to make a decision to learn or move on.
The original article can be found on Insider.
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