I’ve seen this photo plenty of times before, but for those of you who might not be familiar with it, it’s a photograph taken by AP photographer Nick Ut on June 8, 1972 of a group of children fleeing the South Vietnamese village of Trang Bang after an accidental napalm bomb was dropped there by South Vietnamese planes. The photo’s obvious centerpoint is then-9-year-old Phan Thị Kim Phúc, who is the girl shown completely naked and running. The photo went on to serve as one of the iconic images of the Vietnam War, used by some as the ultimate proof that the war it Vietnam was a bad idea.
Anyway, the reason why I’m writing about this is because I just came across actual video footage of the bombing. I don’t know whether or not this is common knowledge among the generations older than me, but I certainly haven’t seen this video before. And now that I have, I’m incredibly saddened and unable to shake the image of the hanging skin from these burned children. I imagine that the children are so stunned by what just happened that they aren’t even feeling any immediate pain.
I warn you however, that the video is shocking and very graphic. So if you want to see it, it’s embedded inside.
You’re right, that was pretty horrifying. I only watched it because I’m taking a class on peace, justice, and the media and we just finished studying the coverage of the Vietnam war. I’ll definitely bring this vid up in class on Monday.
She speaks at various places now, and my father-in-law met her while he was police chief at a convention she was at.
the other kids are running around but she seems very calm
quite horrific footage, I was aware of this incident, as I am 45 years old, about 10 years ago there was quite a controversy about this incident involving a Reverend John Plummer, Mrs. Phuc iives up here in Canada, there is some question of dodgy charities being involved, and some lies being told about the incident, I feel sad for those directly involved, that’s for sure.
1972. the vietnamese did not fly a plane. the bomb was clearly dropped by the US. otherwise those us army would flee for cover. what a malicious lie.
First of all, those aren’t even U.S. soldiers, they are South Vietnamese soldiers. Secondly, the plane being flown is an A-1 Skyraider attack plane. This aircraft was almost completely out of use by the United States Air Force by the time of this attack, and by 1973, all A-1 Skyraiders were handed over to the Vietnam Air Force.(Third) This is because in 1972, U.S. forces were already pulling out of Vietnam, due to protest by it’s citizens. We handed over thousands of planes, and Naval craft to South Vietnam to help them combat northern Vietnamese forces after we left, giving South Vietnam the 6th largest Air Force, and 5th largest Navy in the world at the time. Fourth, this attack was on Trang Bang, a southern Vietnamese village. The United States were sided with South Vietnam in this conflict, so our bombing was primarily in North Vietnam. Fifth, the bulk of North Vietnamese forces did not get as far South as Trang Bang until 1974, this was a small scale Northern attack, and U.S. forces did not even get involved. We (America) have done some things we aren’t proud of, and the Vietnam War as a whole was a mistake, but that doesn’t mean you can instantly blame us for random tragedies. This event was a tragic mistake made by a South Vietnamese pilot, who accidentally missed his marked target and hit a residential area. Instead of placing blame and accusing someone of lying, please use the better side of your emotional expression and have show some sympathy for these children, or at least check some facts before making such strong accusations.
But anyway, this photograph will live forever as a display of the damage that was done entirely in vain during the Vietnam conflict.