Phan Thị Kim Phúc
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- This is a Vietnamese name; the family name is Phan. According to Vietnamese custom, this person properly should be referred to by the given name Phúc.
Phan Thị Kim Phúc (born 1963) is a Vietnamese-Canadian who is the subject of a famous photo from the Vietnam War. The photo shows her at about age nine running naked on the street after being severely burned on her back by a U.S.-coordinated napalm attack. The photo was taken by AP photographer Nick Út.
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[edit] "Vietnam Napalm" - a photograph by Nick Út
Kim Phúc was a resident in the village of Trang Bang, South Vietnam. On June 8, 1972, South Vietnamese planes, in coordination with the American military, dropped a napalm bomb on Trang Bang, which was under attack from and occupied by North Vietnamese forces. She joined a group of civilians and South Vietnamese soldiers fleeing from the Cao Dai Temple located in the village along the road to safe South Vietnamese positions. A South Vietnamese pilot mistook the group as a threat and diverted to attack it. Along with other villagers two of Kim Phúc's cousins were killed. Associated Press photographer Nick Út earned a Pulitzer Prize for the photograph. It was also the World Press Photo of the Year 1972. The image of her running naked amidst the chaotic background became one of the most remembered images of the Vietnam War. In an interview many years later, she remembers yelling "Nong qua, nong qua" ("too hot, too hot") in the picture.
After taking the photograph, Út promptly took Kim Phúc and the other children to a hospital in Saigon where it was determined that her burns were so severe that she would not survive. However, after a 14 month hospital stay and 17 surgical procedures, she returned home. Út continued to visit until he was evacuated during the fall of Saigon, 3 years after the picture was taken. [1]
Audio tapes of then-president Richard Nixon in conversation with his chief of staff, H. R. Haldeman, show that Nixon doubted the veracity of the photograph, musing whether it may have been "fixed." [2] Following the release of this tape, Út 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" [3]
Less publicized is the film shot by photojournalists Alan Downes (ITN), and Le Phuc Dinh (NBC) showing the events just before and just after the photograph. [4] [5] [6] [7]
[edit] Adult life
As an adult, Phúc was removed from her university and used as an anti-war symbol by the Vietnamese government. In 1986, however, Phúc was granted permission by the government to continue her studies in Cuba. By this time, she had converted from her family's religion of Cao Dai to Christianity. Pham Van Dong, the then-Prime Minister of Vietnam, became a friend and patron of hers.
After receiving permission, Phúc then moved to Cuba, and met Bui Huy Tuan. In 1989, Út went to Cuba to meet her and her fiancé. Phúc and Tuan married and, in 1992, went on a honeymoon. During an airplane refueling in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, they got off the plane and defected by asking for political asylum in Canada. They now live in Ajax, Ontario and have two children.
In 1996, she again met the surgeons who saved her life.
In 1997, she passed the Canadian citizenship test with a perfect score, allowing her the privilege of becoming a Canadian citizen.[1]
[edit] Vietnam Memorial speech
In 1996, she gave a speech at the United States Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Veterans Day. During the speech she said that we cannot change the past but can work for a peaceful future. One Reverend John Plummer, a U.S. Vietnam War Veteran, had seen the photo and believed that he had a part in co-ordinating the raid with the South Vietnamese air force. He met Phúc briefly and she publicly forgave him. A Canadian filmmaker, Shelley Saywell, made a documentary about the reconciliation.
[edit] Honours
On November 10, 1997, Kim Phúc was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.
In 1999, the biography of Kim Phúc, written by Denise Chong, was released. (Chong, Denise. 1991. The Girl in the Picture: the Story of Kim Phúc, the Photograph and the Vietnam War. Penguin Books: New York. ISBN 0-670-88040-X.)
In 2003, Belgian composer Eric Geurts wrote a song called "The Girl in the Picture" dedicated to Kim Phúc, sung by Yanah. It was released on Flying Snowman Records. All profits went and still go to the Kim Foundation.
On October 22, 2004, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws from York University in Toronto, Ontario for her work to aid child victims of war around the world. In 2004, she was awarded the Order of Ontario.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Sommer, Mark. (April 3, 2000). "The Girl in the Picture". Buffalo News (New York), p. 6B.
- ^ http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0008/ng5.htm
- ^ Nixon, The A-Bomb, And Napalm, Nixon Considered Using A-Bomb; Doubted Famous Napalm Photo - CBS News
- ^ from program booklet for Humanist Art/Symbolic Sites: An Art Forum for the 21st century
- ^ warning - graphic ITN news footage of the event
- ^ warning - graphic NBC news footage of the event
- ^ Vietnam Napalm Girl - Famous Pictures Magazine
- ^ Graphic A&E TV Network clip includes interviews with Kim and reporters.
