Photos that changed the world

Napalm Girl

Photographer: Nick Út/Associated Press
Year: 1972

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 South Vietnamese napalm attack. The photo was taken by AP photographer Nick Út.

Kim Phúc and her family were residents of 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 had been attacked and occupied by North Vietnamese forces. Phúc joined a group of civilians and South Vietnamese soldiers who were fleeing from the Cao Dai Temple to the safety 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 Phúc's cousins and two other villagers. Associated Press photographer Nick Út earned a Pulitzer Prize for his photograph of the aftermath. It also was chosen the World Press Photo of the Year for 1972. The image of Phúc running naked amidst the chaos became one of the most haunting images of the Vietnam War. In an interview many years later, she recalled she was yelling "Nong qua, nong qua" ("too hot, too hot") in the picture.

After snapping the photograph, Út took Kim Phúc and the other injured children to a hospital in Saigon, where it was determined her burns were so severe that she probably would not survive. After a 14-month hospital stay and 17 surgical procedures, however, she was able to return home. Út continued to visit her until he was evacuated during the fall of Saigon, three years later

Source: article Phan Thị Kim Phúc @ Wikipedia.
Photo source: Photos that Changed the World website.