Phan Thi Kim Phuc

Phan Thị Kim Phúc
June 8, 1972: Kim Phuc, center left, running down a road near Trang Bang after a South Vietnamese Air Force napalm attack. (Nick Ut /AP)
Born	Phan Thị Kim Phúc 1963 (age 47–48) Trang Bang, South Vietnam
Residence	Ajax, Ontario
Nationality	Canadian
Other names	Kim Phuc
Ethnicity	Vietnamese
Citizenship	Canadian
Alma mater	University of Havana, Cuba
Occupation	Author, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador
Known for	Being "The Girl in the Picture" (Vietnam War)
Religion	Christianity
Spouse	Bui Huy Toan
Children	Two
Awards	Order of Ontario

In this Vietnamese name, the family name is Phan. According to Vietnamese custom, this person should properly be referred to by the given name Kim Phuc.

Phan Thị Kim Phúc, O.Ont (born 1963) is a Vietnamese-Canadian best known as the child depicted in the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph taken during the Vietnam War on June 8, 1972. The iconic photo taken in Trang Bang by AP photographer Nick Ut shows her at about nine years of age running naked on a road after being severely burned on her back by a South Vietnamese napalm attack.

"Vietnam Napalm"

Kim Phuc and her family were residents of the village of Trang Bang, South Vietnam. On June 8, 1972, South Vietnamese planes dropped a napalm bomb on Trang Bang, which had been attacked and occupied by North Vietnamese forces. Kim Phuc joined a group of civilians and South Vietnamese soldiers who were fleeing from the Cao Dai 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. The bombing killed two of Kim Phuc's cousins and two other villagers. Associated Press photographer Nick Ut earned a Pulitzer Prize for his photograph of the aftermath. It was also chosen as the World Press Photo of the Year for 1972. The image of Kim Phuc running naked amid the chaos 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 ("too hot, too hot") in the picture.

After snapping the photograph, Ut took Kim Phuc 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.^[1] After a 14-month hospital stay and 17 surgical procedures, however, she was able to return home. Ut continued to visit her until he was evacuated during the fall of Saigon, three years later.^[2]

Thumbnails of the film footage showing the events just before and after the iconic photograph was taken. (ITN)

Audio tapes of President Richard Nixon, in conversation with his chief of staff, H. R. Haldeman, reveal that Nixon doubted the authenticity of the photograph, thinking it might have been "fixed."^[3] After 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."^[4]

Less publicized is film shot by photojournalists Alan Downes (ITN) and Le Phuc Dinh (NBC), which shows the events just before and after the photograph was taken ^[5][6][7][8] (see image on right.) In the top-left frame, a man (possibly Nick Út) stands and appears to take photographs as a passing airplane drops bombs. A group of children, Kim Phúc among them, run away in fear. After a few seconds, she encounters the reporters dressed in military fatigues, including Christopher Wain who gave her water (top-right frame) and poured some over her burns.^[9] As she turns sideways, the severity of the burns on her arm and back can be seen (bottom-left frame). A crying woman runs in the opposite direction holding her badly burned child (bottom-right frame). Sections of the film shot were included in Hearts and Minds, the 1974 Academy Award–winning documentary about the Vietnam War directed by Peter Davis.^[10]

Adult life

“	Forgiveness made me free from hatred. I still have many scars on my body and severe pain most days but my heart is cleansed. Napalm is very powerful, but faith, forgiveness, and love are much more powerful. We would not have war at all if everyone could learn how to live with true love, hope, and forgiveness. If that little girl in the picture can do it, ask yourself: Can you?	”
— Kim Phúc, NPR in 2008 [11]

As a young adult, while studying medicine, Phúc was removed from her university and used as a propaganda symbol by the communist government of Vietnam. In 1986, however, she was granted permission to continue her studies in Cuba. She had converted from her family's Cao Dai religion to Christianity four years earlier.^[12] Phạm Văn Đồng, the then–Prime Minister of Vietnam, 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 and went on their honeymoon. During a refuelling stop in Gander, Newfoundland, they left the plane and asked for political asylum in Canada, which was granted. The couple now lives in Ajax, Ontario, and have two children. In 1996, Phúc met the surgeons who had saved her life. The following year, she passed the Canadian Citizenship Test with a perfect score and became a Canadian citizen.^[13]

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. Her visit was part of the year's "Month of Kindness, established by the University’s Hillel to unite the campus under the theme of kindness."^[14]

On December 28, 2009, National Public Radio broadcast her spoken essay, "The Long Road to Forgiveness," for the "This I Believe" series.^[12] 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 It's my Story.^[15] 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.^[16][17]

Kim Phuc Foundation

In 1997 she established the first Kim Phuc Foundation, in the US, with the aim of providing medical and psychological assistance to child victims of war.^[15] Later, other foundations were set up, with the same name, under an umbrella organization, Kim Phuc Foundation International.

Recognition

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. Rev. John Plummer, a Vietnam veteran, who believed he took part in coordinating the air strike with the South Vietnamese Air Force (though Plummer's entire chain of command and declassified documents indicate otherwise^[18]) met with Phúc briefly and was publicly forgiven. A Canadian filmmaker, Shelley Saywell, made a documentary about their meeting. There is also a blog entry that shares this story.^[19] On November 10, 1997, Kim Phúc was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. 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 Kim Phúc. It was released on Flying Snowman Records, with all profits going to the Kim Phuc Foundation. On October 22, 2004, Phúc was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law from York University in Toronto, Ontario, for her work to support child victims of war around the world. She was also awarded the Order of Ontario. On October 27, 2005, she was awarded another honorary degree in Law from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.^[20] On June 2, 2011 she was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Lethbridge.^[21]

The Girl in the Picture

The Girl in the Picture: the Story of Kim Phuc, the Photograph and the Vietnam War by Denise Chong is a 1999 biographical and historical work tracing the life story of Kim Phúc. Chong’s historical coverage emphasizes the life, especially the school and family life, of Kim Phúc from before the attack, through convalescence, and into the present time.

The Girl in the Picture 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. Kim 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 Literary Award for nonfiction.^[22]

References

• Sommer, Mark. (April 3, 2000). "The Girl in the Picture". Buffalo News (New York), p. 6B.

1. ^ "History". Kim Phuc Foundation International. http://www.kimfoundation.com/modules/contentpage/index.php?file=story.htm&ma=10&subid=101. Retrieved May 18, 2010. 
2. ^ Kim Phuc and Nick Ut Meet Again
3. ^ "Nixon, The A-Bomb, And Napalm". CBS News. 2002-02-28. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/02/28/politics/main502490.shtml. 
4. ^ from program booklet for Humanist Art/Symbolic Sites: An Art Forum for the 21st century
5. ^ warning - graphic ITN news footage of the event
6. ^ warning - graphic NBC news footage of the event
7. ^ Vietnam Napalm Girl - Famous Pictures Magazine
8. ^ Graphic A&E TV Network clip includes interviews with Kim and reporters.
9. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00scvqh
10. ^ Thomson, Desson. "'Hearts And Minds' Recaptured", The Washington Post, October 22, 2004. Accessed July 7, 2008. "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."
11. ^ South Vietnam, June 9, 1972, Nick Ut by Ian K. Smith, New Statesman, April 1, 2001
12. ^ ^{a b} "The Long Road to Forgiveness". This I Believe. NPR. June 30, 2008.
13. ^ Kim Phuc - David Spencer's Education Paragon: Helping students develop citizenship, literacy, responsibility and vision
14. ^ Omara-Otunnu, Elizabeth, "Napalm Survivor Tells of Healing After Vietnam War", UConn Advance, November 8, 2004. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
15. ^ ^{a b} Lumb, Rebecca (May 17, 2010). "Reunited with the Vietnamese 'girl in the picture'". BBC News Online. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8678478.stm. Retrieved May 18, 2010. 
16. ^ It's My Story. BBC. BBC Radio 4. May 18, 2010.
17. ^ Jackson, Kate (May 19, 2010). "Maimed 30 years apart, two different wars.. but united by courage". The Sun. 
18. ^ http://www.ndqsa.com/myth.html
19. ^ http://girlinaglasshouse.blogspot.com/2009/05/johns-greatest-regret.html
20. ^ http://www.queensu.ca/secretariat/senate/Sep22_05/HDfall05.pdf
21. ^ https://www.uleth.ca/conreg/chancellorsdinner/ceremony-i
22. ^ http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0010395

External links

• UNESCO: Kim Phuc Phan Thi
• Detailed series of articles.
• Kim Phuc Foundation
• CBS News 2000
• Profile of Phan including 2003 photo
• Archival Video: Napalm Girl Phan Thị Kim Phúc
• It's My Story: The Girl in the Picture (BBC Radio 4 programme)
• Phan Thị Kim Phúc in 1995 – A photograph by Joe McNally
• "Girl, 9, Survives Napalm Burns", New York Times, June 11, 1972

Persondata
Name	Phan Thi Kim Phuc
Alternative names
Short description	Child depicted in the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph taken during the Vietnam War on June 8, 1972
Date of birth	1963
Place of birth	Trang Bang, South Vietnam
Date of death
Place of death