Over the years, the Vietnam War has become inextricably linked with the poignant image of the naked, running girl, whose napalm sticks to her skin. “Too hot, too hot!” screams Kim Phuc. War photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut of the Associated Press (AP) printed, and saved her life. That is 50 years ago today.
June 8, 1972. 9-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phuc is playing with other children at the temple in the South Vietnamese village of Trảng Bàng, about 45 kilometers northwest of Saigon. Suddenly she hears the deafening noise of an airplane. Then explosions and smoke. Unbearable pain. Kim runs away, but she can't avoid the napalm. Today Kim Phuc has been known around the world as the "Napalm Girl" for fifty years. Because of that one iconic photo that photographer Nick Ut took of her in which you can almost feel the devastation and pain of the girl. Ut was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his photo, which made headlines worldwide. The photo was titled The terror of war, but is better known as Napalm girl.
