The Vietnam War Photo That Changed The Course Of History
The Napalm girl and the photographer that saved her life
In 1972, Nick Ut took a picture of a nine-year-old girl running from an explosion. This happened in Trang Bang, South Vietnam. The photograph was later named “Napalm girl”. The girl in the photo, Phan Thi Kim Phuc, can be seen screaming and running away from a burning Vietnamese village. Kim was playing outside her compound when the nalpalm bomb exploded. Her skin was badly affected and it started to peel. As she ran with the other children in the village, she was naked and could barely stay alive.
The girl in the picture
Nick Ut, an Associated Press photographer, had been taking some pictures to capture all that was happening during the Vietnam war when Kim helplessly ran towards his camera. Some of the napalm bomb had fallen on her clothes and burnt her left arm and back. Nick had just taken photos of four planes in the sky when he saw a group of men, women and children running for their lives.
When Nick noticed Kim, he quickly got some water which he poured on her body. He feared that she would…
