Phan Thi Kim Phuc Explained

Phan Thị Kim Phúc
Honorific Suffix:OOnt
Birth Name:Phan Thị Kim Phúc
Birth Date:6 April 1963
Birth Place:Trảng Bàng, South Vietnam
Nationality:Canadian
Citizenship:South Vietnam (1963–1975)
Vietnam (1975–1997)
Canada (1997–present)
Other Names:Kim Phúc
Known For:Being "The Girl in the Picture" (Vietnam War)
Alma Mater:University of Havana, Cuba
Occupation:Author, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador
Children:2
Awards:Order of Ontario

Phan Thị Kim Phúc (in Vietnamese pronounced as /faːŋ tʰɪ̂ˀ kim fúk͡p̚/; born April 6, 1963), referred to informally as the girl in the picture[1] and the napalm girl, is a South Vietnamese-born Canadian woman best known as the nine-year-old child depicted in the Pulitzer Prize–winning photograph, titled "The Terror of War", taken at Trảng Bàng during the Vietnam War on June 8, 1972.

The image, taken for the Associated Press by a 21-year-old Vietnamese-American photographer named Nick Ut, shows her at nine years of age running naked on a road after being severely burned on her back by a South Vietnamese napalm attack.[2]

She later founded the Kim Phúc Foundation International to provide aid to child victims of war.

Vietnam War napalm attack

Phan Thi Kim Phúc and her family lived in Trảng Bàng in South Vietnam. On June 8, 1972, South Vietnamese planes dropped napalm on Trảng Bàng, which had been attacked and occupied by North Vietnamese forces. Phúc joined a group of civilians and South Vietnamese soldiers who were fleeing from the Caodai Temple to the safety of South Vietnamese-held positions.[3] The Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilot flying an A-1E Skyraider mistook the group for enemy soldiers and diverted to attack.[4] [5] The bombing killed two of Phúc's cousins and two other villagers. Phúc received third degree burns after her clothing was burned by the fire.[6]

Images and rescue

Associated Press photographer Nick Ut took a photograph of Phúc running naked amid other fleeing villagers, South Vietnamese soldiers, and other press photographers. This became one of the most haunting images of the Vietnam War. In an interview many years later, she recalled she was yelling, Nóng quá, nóng quá ("So hot, so hot") in the picture. The New York Times editors were at first hesitant to consider the photo for publication because of the nudity, but they eventually approved it. A cropped version of the photo—with the press photographers to the right removed—was featured on the front page of The New York Times the next day. It later earned a Pulitzer Prize[7] and was chosen as the World Press Photo of the Year for 1973.[8]

After snapping the photograph, Ut took Phúc and the other injured children to Barsky Hospital in Saigon, where it was determined that her burns were so severe that she probably would not survive.[9] [10] After a 14-month hospital stay and 17 surgical procedures, including skin transplantations, she was able to return home. A number of the early operations were performed by Finnish plastic surgeon Aarne Rintala.[11] [12] It was only after treatment at a special hospital in Ludwigshafen, West Germany, in 1982, that Phúc was able to properly move again.[13] Ut continued to visit Phúc until he was evacuated to the United States during the fall of Saigon.[14]

Less publicized is the film,[15] shot by British television cameraman Alan Downes for the British Independent Television News (ITN) and his Vietnamese counterpart Le Phuc Dinh who was working for the American television network NBC, which shows the events just before and after the photograph was taken[16] [17] [18] In the top-left frame, a man stands and appears to take photographs as a passing airplane drops bombs. A group of children, Phúc among them, run away in fear. After a few seconds, she encounters the reporters dressed in military fatigues,[19] including Christopher Wain who gave her water (top-right frame) and poured some over her burns.[19] As she turns sideways, the severity of the burns on her arm and back can be seen (bottom-left frame). A crying woman, Phúc's grandmother, Tao, runs in the opposite direction holding her badly burned grandchild, 3-year-old Danh, Phúc's cousin, who died of his injuries (bottom-right frame). Sections of the film shot were included in Hearts and Minds (1974), the Academy Award-winning documentary about the Vietnam War directed by Peter Davis.[20]

Controversy

Audio tapes of President Richard Nixon, in conversation with his chief of staff, H. R. Haldeman in 1972, reveal that Nixon mused, "I'm wondering if that was fixed", after seeing the photograph.[21] After the release of this tape, Ut commented, "Even though it has become one of the most memorable images of the twentieth century, President Nixon once doubted the authenticity of my photograph when he saw it in the papers on 12 June 1972... The picture for me and unquestionably for many others could not have been more real. The photo was as authentic as the Vietnam War itself. The horror of the Vietnam War recorded by me did not have to be fixed. That terrified little girl is still alive today and has become an eloquent testimony to the authenticity of that photo. That moment thirty years ago will be one Kim Phúc and I will never forget. It has ultimately changed both our lives."[22]

Adult life

Phúc was removed from her university as a young adult studying medicine and used as a propaganda symbol by the communist government of Vietnam.[23] Due to constant pain, she considered suicide, but in 1982 she found a New Testament in a library that led her to become a Christian and towards forgiveness.[24] In 1986, she was granted permission to continue her studies in Cuba, where she studied Spanish and was trained as a pharmacist. It was in Havana that Phúc met Ut for the first time in fourteen years, in 1989, and the two have been meeting and speaking over telephone regularly ever since.[14] Prime Minister of Vietnam Phạm Văn Đồng became her friend and patron. After arriving in Cuba, she met Bui Huy Toan, another Vietnamese student and her future fiancé. In 1992, Phúc and Toan married.

On the way to their honeymoon in Moscow, they left the plane during a refuelling stop in Gander, Newfoundland, and asked for political asylum in Canada, which was granted.[25] The couple now live in Ajax, Ontario, and have two children.[26] In 1996, Phúc met the surgeons who had saved her life. The following year, she became a Canadian citizen.[27]

In 2015, it was reported that she was receiving laser treatment, provided free of charge at a hospital in Miami, to reduce the scarring on her left arm and back.[28] [29] [30] [31]

Activism

In 1997, she established the first Kim Phúc Foundation in the U.S., with the aim of providing medical and psychological assistance to child victims of war. Later, other foundations were set up, with the same name, under an umbrella organization, Kim Phúc Foundation International.[32]

In 2004, Phúc spoke at the University of Connecticut about her life and experience, learning how to be "strong in the face of pain" and how compassion and love helped her heal.[33]

On December 28, 2009, National Public Radio broadcast her spoken essay, "The Long Road to Forgiveness", for the This I Believe series.[34] In May 2010, Phúc was reunited by the BBC with ITN correspondent Christopher Wain, who helped to save her life. On May 18, 2010, Phúc appeared on the BBC Radio 4 programme Its My Story.[35] In the programme, Phúc related how she was involved through her foundation in the efforts to secure medical treatment in Canada for Ali Abbas, who had lost both arms in a rocket attack on Baghdad during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

In a December 21, 2017, article for The Wall Street Journal, Phúc wrote that the trauma she suffered in the napalm strike still requires treatment, but that the psychological trauma was greater: "But even worse than the physical pain was the emotional and spiritual pain." This led directly to her conversion to Christianity, which she credits with healing the psychological trauma of living over forty years being known to the world as "Napalm Girl". "My faith in Jesus Christ is what has enabled me to forgive those who had wronged me," she wrote, "no matter how severe those wrongs were."[36]

In July 2022, Phúc in person welcomed 236 Ukrainian refugees with children aboard a special flight from Warsaw to Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The airplane used for the special flight bore an image of her iconic 1972 photo. The flight was arranged by an organization called Solidaire.[37]

Recognition

On November 10, 1994, Phúc was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. In 1996, Phúc gave a speech at the United States Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Veterans Day. In her speech, she said that one cannot change the past, but everyone can work together for a peaceful future. John Plummer, a Vietnam veteran who said he took part in coordinating the air strike with the Republic of Vietnam Air Force, met with Phúc briefly and was publicly forgiven. Plummer later admitted to The Baltimore Sun he had lied, saying he was "caught up in the emotion at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the day Phuc spoke".[38] [39] Canadian filmmaker Shelley Saywell made a documentary about their meeting.[40]

Her biography, The Girl in the Picture, was written by Denise Chong and published in 1999.

In 2003, Belgian composer Eric Geurts wrote "The Girl in the Picture", dedicated to Phúc. It was released on Flying Snowman Records, with all profits going to the Kim Phúc Foundation. It was released again in 2021 as part of Eric's album Leave a Mark.[41]

Awards

On October 22, 2004, Phúc was made a member of the Order of Ontario, and received an honorary Doctorate of Law from York University for her work supporting child victims of war around the world. On October 27, 2005, she was awarded an honorary degree in Law from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.[42] On June 2, 2011, she was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Lethbridge.[43] On May 19, 2016, she was awarded a Doctor of Civil Law, Honoris Causa by Saint Mary's University (Halifax).

On February 11, 2019, Phúc was awarded the 2019 Dresden Peace Prize[44] in recognition of her work with UNESCO and as an activist for peace.[45]

Retrospective works

The Girl in the Picture: The Kim Phúc Story, the Photograph and the Vietnam War, by Denise Chong, is a 1999 biographical and historical book tracing the life story of Phúc. Chong's historical coverage emphasizes the life, especially the school and family life, of Phúc from before the attack, through convalescence, and into the present time. The book deals primarily with Vietnamese and American relationships during the Vietnam War, while examining themes of war, racism, immigration, political turmoil, repression, poverty, and international relationships through the lens of family and particularly through the eyes and everyday lives of women. Phúc and her mother, Nu, provide the lens through which readers of The Girl in the Picture experience war, strife, and the development of communism in Vietnam. Like Chong's first book, The Girl in the Picture was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction.[46]

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Chong, Denise . The girl in the picture: the Kim Phuc story . 1998 . Viking . 978-0-670-86817-9 . Toronto . 6877456M . September 9, 2023 . September 13, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230913154950/https://openlibrary.org/books/OL6877456M/The_girl_in_the_picture . live .
  2. News: Girl, 9, Survives Napalm Burns . . 17 . June 11, 1972 . August 18, 2014 . Nine-year-old Phan Thi Kim-Phuc is recuperating in a Saigon children's hospital, the unintended victim of a misdirected napalm attack ... . July 18, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180718012642/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/06/11/archives/girl-9-survives-napalm-burns.html . live .
  3. Web site: 1973 Photo Contest, World Press Photo of the Year . World Press Photo . World Press Photo Foundation . 17 May 2020 . South Vietnamese planes mistakenly dropped napalm on South Vietnamese troops and civilians. . November 23, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181123035831/https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/1973/world-press-photo-year/nick-ut . live .
  4. News: Times . Fox Butterfield Special to The New York . 1972-06-09 . South Vietnamese Drop Napalm on Own Troops . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-02-22 . 0362-4331 . Standing in the company command post here today, Sgt. Nguyen Van Hai watched incredulously as a South Vietnamese plane mistakenly dropped flaming napalm right on his troops and a cluster of civilians. . February 22, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230222025838/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/06/09/archives/south-vietnamese-drop-napalm-on-own-troops.html . live .
  5. Web site: Campbell . W. Joseph . 50 years after 'Napalm Girl,' myths distort the reality behind a horrific photo of the Vietnam War and exaggerate its impact . 2023-02-22 . The Conversation . June 2, 2022 . en . February 22, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230222025838/http://theconversation.com/50-years-after-napalm-girl-myths-distort-the-reality-behind-a-horrific-photo-of-the-vietnam-war-and-exaggerate-its-impact-183291 . live .
  6. News: Collins. Nick. Vietnam War 'girl in the picture' reunited with journalist who saved her life. The Telegraph. January 6, 2018. April 7, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220407002434/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/vietnam/7735854/Vietnam-War-girl-in-the-picture-reunited-with-journalist-who-saved-her-life.html. live.
  7. Web site: The 1973 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Spot News Photography: Huynh Cong Ut of Associated Press . The Pulitzer Prizes . September 9, 2016 . June 12, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143856/http://www.pulitzer.org/winners/huynh-cong-ut . live .
  8. Web site: World Press Photo of the Year, prize singles: Nick Ut, USA . pulitzer.org . World Press Photo . September 9, 2016 . September 20, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160920215541/http://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/1973/world-press-photo-year/nick-ut . live .
  9. Web site: Napalmed Girl Recovering in Saigon . . August 9, 1972 . March 20, 2024 . March 20, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240320122619/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/08/09/archives/napalmed-girl-recovering-in-saigon.html . live.
  10. Web site: History . kimfoundation.com . Kim Phúc Foundation International . May 18, 2010 . June 3, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150603195959/http://www.kimfoundation.com/modules/contentpage/index.php?file=story.htm&ma=10&subid=101 . live .
  11. News: Kuolleet: Aarne Rintala 1926–2014. Kirurgi hoiti napalmin polttaman tytön . Sirpa . Asko-Seljavaara . Hannu . Salo . Jorma . Rautio . https://web.archive.org/web/20141205210114/http://www.hs.fi/ihmiset/a1412389497912 . 2014-12-05 . . fi . October 5, 2014 . C 33 . November 28, 2014 . In memoriam. Aarne Rintala 1926–2014. Surgeon treated girl burned with napalm.
  12. Book: Rintala, Aarne . Työtä ja kaskuja: Plastiikkakirurgi muistelee . Work and jokes: A plastic surgeon remembers . 2004 . Finnreklama . Lieto, Finland.
  13. Web site: 40 Jahre danach: So geht es dem Napalm-Mädchen heute. December 15, 2015. merkur.de. bot: unknown. https://web.archive.org/web/20151215170948/http://www.merkur.de/welt/jahre-danach-geht-esdem-napalm-maedchen-heute-2344857.html. December 15, 2015. mdy-all.
  14. Web site: Kim Phúc and Nick Ut Meet Again . Digitaljournalist.org . July 11, 2000 . June 6, 2012 . May 22, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110522023131/http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0008/ng5.htm . live .
  15. Web site: Reporters at war collection 1. ITN. 23 March 2017. gettyimages. 2020-01-15. January 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200115234733/https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/video/reporters-at-war-collection-1-slate-information-many-news-footage/695560816. live.
  16. War in Vietnam – Napalm dropped on Vietnamese village . https://web.archive.org/web/20071114124733/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev2dEqrN4i0. 2007-11-14 . dead. . June 6, 1972 . . YouTube . June 6, 2012.
  17. Web site: 2013 . Phan Thi Kim Phúc the Vietnam Napalm Girl . famouspictures.org . May 22, 2013 . Lucas . Dean . June 13, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130613102756/http://www.famouspictures.org/vietnam-napalm-girl/ . live .
  18. http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=8680472 Graphic A&E TV Network clip
  19. News: It's My Story, The Girl in the Picture . BBC Radio 4 . May 18, 2010 . June 6, 2012 . November 18, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111118071006/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00scvqh . live .
  20. News: Thomson. Desson. Desson Thomson. 'Hearts And Minds' Recaptured. The Washington Post. October 22, 2004. July 7, 2008. November 6, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121106062401/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2004/10/22/AR2005033112678_pf.html. live. "Hearts and Minds is also the movie that enshrined the now-household images of the naked Vietnamese girl, also made famous by Nick Út's Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs, running from a napalm attack, her body a patchwork of burns, and the infant in a woman's arms, suffering from the same injuries, skin hanging off its body."
  21. News: Collins . Dan . February 28, 2002 . Nixon, The A-Bomb, And Napalm . CBS News . live . June 12, 2022 . June 11, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220611124301/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nixon-the-a-bomb-and-napalm-28-02-2002/ .
  22. Book: Kelly, William . Art and Humanist Ideals: Contemporary Perspectives . Macmillan Art Publishing . 2003 . 1876832258 . South Yarra . 284–285 . en.
  23. Web site: The girl in the picture. October 25, 2015. CBS News. February 22, 2019. September 27, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220927090347/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-girl-in-the-picture/. live.
  24. Web site: Phan Thị Kim Phúc on Pain and Forgiveness. January 8, 2020. CBC Documentary Channel. January 15, 2020. January 14, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200114233810/https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/brief-but-spectacular/phan-th%E1%BB%8B-kim-ph%C3%BAc-on-pain-and-forgiveness-1.5417755. live.
  25. News: Phan Thị . Kim Phúc . 2022-06-06 . It's Been 50 Years. I Am Not 'Napalm Girl' Anymore. . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-06-07 . 0362-4331 . October 31, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221031202558/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/06/opinion/kim-phuc-vietnam-napalm-girl-photograph.html . live .
  26. News: Kathleen . Burge . Girl in famous Vietnam photo talks about forgiveness . . February 14, 2013 . August 18, 2014 . More than 40 years after her injury, Phuc, now married with two teenagers and living near Toronto ... Phuc lived in Trảng Bàng, north of Saigon, when the war started. On June 8, 1972, Phuc, her family, other villagers and South Vietnamese soldiers had been hiding in a temple for three days. The day of the attack, they heard planes flying overhead. One of the soldiers told the civilians to run away, that the plane was going to bomb the temple. . June 12, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140655/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/west/2013/02/14/kim-phuc-girl-famous-vietnam-photo-talks-about-forgiveness/BrLEcMnoycAj90gHbCJPBJ/story.html . live .
  27. Web site: Kim Phúc . David Spencer's Education Paragon: Helping students develop citizenship, literacy, responsibility and vision . June 6, 2012 . June 12, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141323/http://education.davidspencer.ca/wiki/Kim_Phuc . live .
  28. News: October 26, 2015 . Girl in the 'napalm picture' during Vietnam War gets free laser surgery . Richard . Hartley-Parkinson . . October 26, 2015 . September 28, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220928214803/https://metro.co.uk/2015/10/26/girl-in-the-napalm-picture-during-vietnam-war-gets-free-laser-surgery-5461899/ . live .
  29. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Web site: Laser treatment for Vietnam War napalm attack victim . November 4, 2015. CNN . YouTube.
  30. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Web site: The girl in the picture . Sunday Morning . October 25, 2015. CBS . YouTube.
  31. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Web site: In News History: Napalm Girl . June 7, 2012 . Newseum . YouTube.
  32. Web site: The KIM Foundation International : Healing Children of War. www.kimfoundation.com. May 14, 2004. February 28, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090228003718/http://www.kimfoundation.com/. live.
  33. Omara-Otunnu, Elizabeth, "Napalm Survivor Tells of Healing After Vietnam War", UConn Advance, November 8, 2004. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
  34. Web site: Phan Thị . Kim Phúc . The Long Road To Forgiveness . NPR . 8 June 2018 . 30 June 2008 . June 12, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142424/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91964687 . live .
  35. News: Reunited with the Vietnamese 'girl in the picture' . BBC News . May 18, 2010 . May 17, 2010 . Rebecca . Lumb . March 7, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120307103724/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8678478.stm . live .
  36. Web site: The Salvation of 'Napalm Girl'. Phan Thị. Kim Phúc. The Wall Street Journal. December 21, 2017. January 24, 2018. January 24, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180124212518/https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-salvation-of-napalm-girl-1513899109. live.
  37. News: Ontario woman who was known as 'napalm girl' helping Ukrainians settle in Canada . . August 3, 2022 . April 3, 2023 . April 3, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230403075546/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/napalm-girl-helps-ukrainian-refugees-in-canada-1.6539813 . live .
  38. News: Pastor Admits Lying About Vietnam Bombing . January 12, 1998 . 11th Armored Cavalry's Veterans of Vietnam & Cambodia . September 26, 2015 . August 13, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150813025859/http://www.11thcavnam.com/education/pastor_admits_lying_about_vietna.htm . live .
  39. News: Pastor Admits Lying About Vietnam Bombing . January 12, 1998 . Maranatha Christian Journal . https://web.archive.org/web/20030302180624/http://www.mcjonline.com/news/98/news2344.htm . March 2, 2003 . dead . mdy-all.
  40. Encyclopedia: Chisholm . Patricia . 15 December 2013 . Vietnam Victim Finds Peace In Canada . . 25 May 2023.
  41. Web site: The Girl in the Picture. 2021-04-15. www.ericgeurts.be. April 15, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210415153932/https://www.ericgeurts.be/jla/index.php/audio/menu-more/16-music/130-music-the-girl-in-the-picture. live.
  42. Web site: Honorary Degrees – Fall Convocation 2005 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20110606142002/http://www.queensu.ca/secretariat/senate/Sep22_05/HDfall05.pdf . June 6, 2011 . dead . mdy-all.
  43. Web site: Chancellor's dinner . ULeth . June 6, 2012 .
  44. Web site: The Duke of Kent awards the 10th Dresden Peace Prize. February 12, 2019. The Royal Family. June 2, 2022. June 2, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220602191841/https://www.royal.uk/duke-kent-awards-10th-dresden-peace-prize. live.
  45. Web site: "Napalm Girl" Kim Phuc from iconic Vietnam photo honored for peace work. CBS News. February 11, 2019. 2019-02-23. February 23, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190223184554/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/napalm-girl-kim-phuc-iconic-vietnam-war-photo-dresden-prize-germany-peace-work/. live.
  46. Encyclopedia: Diana . Lary . 9 June 1953 . Denise Chong . . 25 May 2023.

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