Kim Phuc Phan Thi
On June 8, 1972, a napalm bomb was dropped on the village of Trang Bang, Vietnam, suspected by US Army forces of being a Viet Cong stronghold. Kim Phuc Phan Thi (born 1963) was a resident of Trang Bang, and after being severely burned in the attack she fled naked from her village. Her escape was caught on film by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut and the image became one of the most remembered images of the Vietnam War. The photograph earned Ut a Pulitzer Prize.
After taking the photograph, Ut promptly took Thi to a hospital in Saigon where it was determined that her burns were so severe that she would not survive. However, after 14 months of medical attention, she returned home.
When she was an adult, due to pressure from people to use her as an anti-war symbol she requested permission from the Vietnam government to go to Cuba to resume her studies.
She then moved to Cuba, after receiving permission, and met Bui Huy Tuan. They married and, in 1992, they went on a honeymoon. During an airplane refueling in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, they got off the plane and defected to Canada. She now lives in Toronto.
In 1996, she met with (and expressed forgiveness for) the napalm bomber pilot; she also met the surgeons who saved her life.
On November 10, 1997, Thi was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.
On October 22, 2004, Thi was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws from York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada for her work to aid child victims of war around the world.
External links
- A contemporary photo of Thi (http://portal.unesco.org/en/file_download.php/42fce9549060069aad2a3e047b5504d4Kim+Phuc-1.jpg)
- UNESCO Kim Phuc Phan Thi (http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php@URL_ID=8323&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html)
- Kim Foundation International (http://www.kimfoundation.com/en/index.htm)
- VietnamWar.com (http://www.vietnamwar.com/PhanThiKimPhuc.htm)
- http://www.vwam.com/vets/myth.html - site attempting to clarify what happened to Kim Phuc Phan Thi
