The ‘napalm girl' image that haunted the world turns 40

Herald Sun ^ | June 01, 2012 | AAP

[a fool in paradise]

...It only took a second for Associated Press photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image 40 years ago. It communicated the horrors of the Vietnam War in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of America's darkest eras.

"I really wanted to escape from that little girl," says the subject of photo, Kim Phuc, now 49. "But it seems to me that the picture didn't let me go."

...She worked hard and was accepted into medical school to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. But all that ended once the new communist leaders realised the propaganda value of the napalm girl in the photo.

...Phuc travelled to West Germany in 1982 for medical care with the help of a foreign journalist. Later Vietnam's prime minister, also touched by her story, made arrangements for her to study in Cuba.

She was finally free from the minders and reporters hounding her at home, but her life was far from normal. Ut, then working at the AP in Los Angeles, traveled to meet her in 1989, but they never had a moment alone. There was no way for him to know she desperately wanted his help again.

"I knew in my dream that one day Uncle Ut could help me to have freedom," said Phuc, referring to him by an affectionate Vietnamese term. "But I was in Cuba. I was really disappointed because I couldn't contact with him. I couldn't do anything."

... While at school, Phuc met a young Vietnamese man...

The two married in 1992 and honeymooned in Moscow. On the flight back to Cuba, the newlyweds defected during a refuelling stop in Canada. She was free...

[a fool in paradise]

The two married in 1992 and honeymooned in Moscow. On the flight back to Cuba, the newlyweds defected during a refuelling stop in Canada. She was free.

If the Communists had ever cared about her as a person, they would've granted her freedom, rather than using her as a propaganda tool. The Vietnam War was long over by 1992.

[beaversmom]

Thanks for posting.

[oh8eleven]

The Vietnam War was long over by 1992.
As long as the commies run VN, the war will never be over.

[mom4melody]

I remember this picture.

I had no idea the girl had survived.

It was great to read the article and know how her life has turned out.

[Beowulf9]

Reading this story will always improve the dark sadness I felt when looking at that photo.

Thank you for posting this.

[Yardstick]

I had no idea she defected to the West. That is beyond ironic.

[Baynative]

"If the Communists had ever cared about her as a person, they would've granted her freedom, rather than using her as a propaganda tool."

I wonder how 'little' Elian Gonzales is doing in the Cuban Utopia these days.

[MikeSteelBe]

Thank you for your service.

My father fought communists in Korea.

Now we have commies running America.

If they want to recreate ‘68, I will happily kill a commie for mommie to protect innocent human life.

[a fool in paradise]

The common perception is that they are fleeing the South Vietnamese military.

Kim Phuc joined a group of civilians and South Vietnamese soldiers who were fleeing from the Caodai Temple to the safety of South Vietnamese–held positions. A South Vietnamese Air Force pilot mistook the group for enemy soldiers and diverted to attack.

They are fleeing the napalm from friendly fire in the company of soldiers. Just as the so-called "War in Iraq" ended with the fall of Saddam when the US then was fighting foreign trained/supplied/staffed "insurgents" alongside Iraqi soldiers.

She was an innocent victim. She was a pawn of international Communists for decades. If U.S. imperialism is so bad, why is all talk of global Communist imperialism "a Red Scare" and "paranoia"? The Vietnamese Communists dominated (and eradicated) South Vietnamese financed by the Soviet Communists and others. The Vietnamese Communists thought she would be okay in Castro's Cuba and the USSR.

But die hard American Reds insist "none of that is REAL Communism". It was good enough for Hanoi Jane to partner with it and wish its imposition on all of us.

[a fool in paradise]

I’m glad to read she has her health, a family, and her freedom (and even some sanity after an incident like that).

[Sequoyah101]

Quite a story though that turned out pretty well in the end though.

[oh8eleven]

Now we have commies running America.
Not for much longer. I'm predicting a GOP landslide.

[moonshot925]

We should never have sent ground troops to Vietnam.

We should have dropped a single Mark 41 bomb on Hanoi in 1964. 25 Megatons.

500,000+ people dead and North Vietnam surrenders. Not a single American casualty.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Thank you for the post.

I saw a short on her several years ago. She is a wonderful, soothing, positive, inspiring speaker. There was no animosity toward anybody.

She had also switched gods.

[grellis]

"I have a husband and a new life and want to be normal like everyone else," she said.

I think she's a little too extraordinary to be just like everyone else. What a nation of whiners we've become.

[bgill]

The computer screen suddenly when all blurry.

[Little Bill]

I can't remember whether that was Trang Bang or Go Da Ha. The area was infested with VC and NVA.

[ThanhPhero]

I had heard that she got out but never knew the details before. It is good to see pictures of her as an adult.
Út means “youngest” or “least one.” Youngest child in a family is con út, con gái út is youngest daughter.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***We should never have sent ground troops to Vietnam.***

“I will NOT send American boys to fight a war that Asian boys should be fighting!”-Lyndon B Johnson 1964.

Goldwater to Johnson..”You know we will eventually have to send troops to Vietnam!”

Johnson...”I know Barry, but I am out to win an election!”

[ThanhPhero]

Communism in Việt Nam has deteriorated over the years to something more like a government by Mafia.The government sees no problem being allied to the USA and will do domestically whatever the USA wants short of dissolving their jobs. Clinton and Bush leaned on them persistently to relax socially and politically and they did until 2008. The president who was elected in that year has a very different view of Human rights and such and does not care for liberties and suchlike in the US population or any other population. The USA has quit pushing for reform and the bosses are tightening ropes again. I could see the deterioration when I was back last year. If the USA collapses economically and the Việt honchos think the US has no more perceived interest in blocking China in the area then Hà Nội will clamp down for real because they know they will have to propitiate China.