The Vietnam War: The Napalm Girl In Vietnam

1243 Words3 Pages

Avery Hatfield
Ms. Zehnder
English Honors 2A
5.10.17
The Napalm Girl
The Vietnam War was a long and violent conflict between the communist governed North Vietnam and the non-communist governed South Vietnam. In late 1955, when the war began, mixed emotions arose because of the controversies surrounding the war and why the United States was involved. In an effort to sway the views of the people to support the war, photographers began to document the horrible injustices that were occurring overseas through photographs and other forms of propaganda. Through these documentations and photographs, society was deeply impacted. There were many vivid and striking events captured by photographers during this time, some even became iconic Vietnam War …show more content…

His given name is Huỳnh Công Út but is known professionally as Nick Ut.(“Nick Ut”) Growing up Nick watched his older brother Huynh Thanh My, a photographer for the Associated Press, and decided he wanted to follow in his footsteps. When Ut was 16 his brother was killed in the combat of the Vietnam War.(Kuhn) In 1966, Nick joined the Associated Press and covered the rest of the Vietnam War. While in Cambodia when Americans and Southern Vietnamese invaded, Ut was injured in his stomach, left leg, and his chest.(Kuhn) On June 8, 1972 his sacrifices paid off when he captured the image that would later become the highlight of his career and the beginning of the end of the Vietnam War. That day Nick Ut photographed “The Napalm Girl”.(Saywell) While Ut and a group of photographers stood on Route 1, the village of Trang Bang was bombed with Napalm by South Vietnamese planes. As the group watched in horror Nick began snapping photos. He captured the moment Phan Thi Kim Phuc ran naked from the blast screaming in pain.(Saywell) As she ran closer he could see that her clothes had been burned off her body from the Napalm that had been dropped. Nick immediately doused her in water and rushed her to the hospital where she would remain for 14 months. (Kuhn) While Kim underwent numerous surgeries Nick would bring her books, gifts, and eventually set up a fund for her family. (Saywell) In 1973, Nick Ut won the Pulitzer Prize for his photograph “The Terror of War” which has been since nicknamed “The Napalm Girl”.(TIME

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