Media from all over the world called to talk to her and the photographer who took the photo, Nick Ut, and the photo was released once again on social media.
The image, entitled “The Terror of War” but better known as “The Girl of Napalm”, remained a symbol not only of the Vietnam War but also of the horror of the war itself.
CBC producer Sylvia Thomson met Kim Phuc Phan Thi in Ajax, OD, where she now lives with her mom, husband and two children.
They sat in a park to talk about why he thinks pictures of the war are important and the message he has for children living through the war in Ukraine.
“To be honest, they have the right to be angry and hate me.”
“The only thing I can share with the kids is just not to give up.”
South Vietnamese forces pursue frightened children, including 9-year-old Kim Phuc, in the center as they run on Route 1 near the Trang Bang following a napalm air strike on suspected Viet Cong hideouts on June 8, 1972. A South Vietnamese plane crashes. wrong His flaming napalm to the South Vietnamese troops and civilians, and the terrified girl had torn her flaming clothes as she left. (Nick Ut / The Associated Press)
The discussion has been elaborated for greater scope and clarity.
It has been 50 years since this photo came out. What did you think the first time you saw it?
The first time I saw my photo, after 14 months in the hospital, my god. The first time I saw it, I said “What!” and “Why did he take my picture like that?” I felt so ugly and ashamed because I was naked. I was a child. I really hated it. I hated this image… and I feel like “does anyone understand my pain?”
What do we see in this photo?
As soon as the napalm touched me, the clothes burned. I still remember my hand and I see all the fire. I was so terrified and so scared. And I thanked God that my feet did not burn, and I was able to escape from this fire…. We just kept running and running and running for a while… and I shouted “Too hot! Too hot! ‘ The soldiers tried to help me. They tried to throw water on me and at that moment I lost consciousness.
What is your relationship with the photographer, Nick Ut?
After he took the picture, he saw me burning so much; he put down the camera and took me to the nearest hospital, and I thought he saved my life. I owe him. He is my hero. Not only did he do his job as a photographer, but also as a human being. He helped. Now, I feel like he’s part of my family. That’s why I call him Uncle Ut.
Associated Press photographer Nick Ut, pictured left, poses with Kim Phuc Phan Thi before a tribute dinner in Toronto on June 8, 2012. Phan Thi calls him “Uncle Ut” and credits the photographer’s actions that saved her life. (Chris Young / The Canadian Press)
How did your thinking about photography evolve?
Yes, I hated photography when I first saw it because I was a little girl and I was naked and ugly, and I was so ashamed. Ten years later, my story became hot news. The [communist] The Vietnamese government has rediscovered me. And all the journalists from other countries came to visit me and I became a voice of propaganda… I [didn’t] it belongs to me now.
They thought I should be a symbol of war for the state. At first, I was happy because I was getting attention… but gradually, it interfered with my school curriculum. The government kicked me out of school and asked me to work with them. They did not want to hear me. At the time, I hated this image. I did not want to be this little girl in the famous photo. I just thought that the more famous this photo became, the more it would cost my private life.
At that time, there was so much hatred inside me, bitterness. Sometimes, I thought about suicide because I thought, “Once I die, I will not have to suffer.” And remember, I still had a lot of physical pain.
In this 2015 photo, Kim Phuc shows the marks of burns on her back and hands after laser treatments in Miami. (Nick Ut / The Associated Press)
Did you end up spending 14 months in the hospital due to your injuries?
Yes, including treatment and rehabilitation. I was really distorted. I could not feel it at all, and a machine had to help me wake up my nerves. Now, you see me looking normal.
Why did you do all these interviews with journalists around the world this week on the 50th anniversary of the photo shoot?
Yes, because I want everyone to celebrate my life, 50 years later. I am no longer a victim of war. I’m a survivor. I feel like 50 years ago I was a victim of war, but 50 years later, I was a friend, a helper, a mother, a grandmother and a survivor shouting for peace.
And I am working to fulfill my dream of giving back to children who are victims of war. I’m so grateful that all the social media around the world is talking only about my photo. I think it is so possible. We must have the truth. The story must be told. To show the world what happened.
In this 2012 archive photo, Associated Press photographer Huynh Cong (Nick) Ut visits Phan Thi’s house near where she took her famous Pulitzer Prize-winning photo when she was nine years old. (Na Son Nguyen / The Associated Press)
So, is it okay to display graphic war photos?
I think we need it. Sometimes, it’s not beautiful, but we have to show it. This kind of education, this kind of reminder is needed to let people know we need to stop.
Was February 24 – the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine – a big day for you, watching a war start again?
Yes, it was for me and my mom. We just cried because we understand. We understand perfectly well how hurt, how lost, how desperate, everything that people have to face right now, because we were there in the same situation. Scary, horror.
Sick children and women with their newborn babies live in a basement used as a bomb shelter at Okhmadet Children’s Hospital in central Kiev, Ukraine, on March 1. (Emilio Morenatti / The Associated Press)
How have the images of children in Ukraine affected you?
My heart is broken. My heart is broken for all the people who lost their lives, especially the children. I will never forget February 24, 2022. My mom and I cry every moment thinking about what happened to me and my family 50 years ago.
Not necessary. Why is it repeated? I have been there. My house was completely destroyed. What we had, left… Then, we officially became poor, poor, poor. We had no money and no rice. And then for me, I had to deal with all the scars and the ugliness and the pain. Not just deformity but pain. Also nightmares, injured, scared.
Do you have a sense of how children react to a war? Or how is it for them?
To be honest, they have the right to be angry and hate. Me too. I was in this state Ή I was in a deep, deep, deep darkness. The only thing I can share with the kids is just not to give up. I cried as a child. I just could not stand the pain and fainted.
In May, Kim Phuc Phan Thi and Ut visited Rome and showed Pope Francis the 1972 photograph “The Terror of War,” also known as “Napalm Girl,” during the weekly Vatican General Audience. (Vatican Media Brochure)
What would you say to children?
Patience there. Do not lose hope. Do not lose your dream. There are so many people around that will help you. And whatever they say, children can say it from the heart, but they need help.
Would you like to go to Ukraine to talk to people there?
Yes, I’m going.
Kim Phuc Phan Thi is in preliminary discussions about flying to Poland to help the children of Ukrainian refugees there. He also plans to talk to teachers and students in Ukraine in July via Zoom.
