Story Behind The The Terror of War: Nick Ut’s "Napalm Girl" (1972)

October 26, 2019 Martin Kaninsky

The photo I would like to talk about today changed the war in Vietnam, and is a very important photo in the history of photography. Let’s check out the “The Terror of War” by Nick Ut, 1972

“The Terror of War”, also known as the “Napalm Girl”, is a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph taken by photojournalist Nick Ut, a Vietnamese American photographer who was working for the Associated Press at that time. After his brother was killed in 1965 at the age of 27, Nick joined AP in 1966. He first worked in the darkroom, and later became a combat photographer just like his brother.

Nick Ut (*1951)

The photo we are looking at was taken with a Leica M2 on Kodak 400 tri x film as only 400 and 200 versions were available in Vietnam. The camera still exists and is stored in a museum in Washington DC.

On June 7, Ut heard about fighting in Trảng Bàng. He photographed the refugees and planes dropping bombs. The civilians were caught in between North Vietnamese soldiers who were trying to take control of the village and South Vietnamese troops who were defending it. One of the planes dropped a napalm bomb on North Vietnamese positions. However, the bomb mistakenly hit Trảng Bàng and civilians. Kim Phuc and other villagers were hiding in the temple in the village. As the bombs were exploding everywhere the villagers ran out from the temple as they thought it would also be targeted. Suddenly another plane dropped napalm bombs. People were running out of the location hit by the bomb. Women were carrying burned children.

Nick saw terrified children, among them a naked girl (9-year-old girl, Phan Thị Kim Phúc), running and crying. As he saw her skin falling away he put down his camera and took water for the girl. He picked her up and took her to his car and drove her and other children to the hospital. There he discovered that she might not survive because she had suffered third-degree burns on thirty percent of her body. He helped to transfer her to an American hospital, where they were able to save her life.

The Terror of War: Nick Ut’s "Napalm Girl" (1972)

When he sent his picture to the AP’s office, the photo was about to be rejected because the rules for publishing nudity were very strict. In the end the editors agreed that the value of the picture and the news was higher than the reservations about nudity. Ironically, Facebook censored the photograph in 2016. Mark Zuckerberg was accused of abusing his power and after widespread criticisms from news organizations and media experts across the globe, Facebook backed down and allowed the photograph to be published. Now, when we think about it, if a photo like this one would be taken today would it be published? Let me know what you think in the comments.

As any other famous photograph this one is also little controversial. At first some people, including then President Richard Nixon, doubted the photo’s authenticity. Ut later said: "The picture for me, and unquestionably for many others, could not have been more real. The photo was as authentic as the Vietnam war itself.” Nixon suggested that the photo was a fake, and that the girl was perhaps burned with oil as until then no one had survived napalm bombing. The photo was also initially published cropped so the first version was published without the soldier rewinding his film. Nick Ut said in the interview on Petapixel that the soldier was David Burnett. As the civilians were running out of the fire everyone was terrified and all the photographers and TV cameras started taking pictures. David Burnett ran out of film and was desperately trying to rewind it. When he finally did it he also took pictures of Kim. Now, the picture definitely had a bigger impact without the figure of a soldier looking like not caring too much, especially when the people didn’t know he was actually trying to document the incident. What do you think about cropping the photo like that?

The Terror of War: Nick Ut’s "Napalm Girl" (1972)

Nick later said. “I wanted to stop this war. I hated war. My brother told me “I hope one day you have a picture to stops the war””. On June 8, 1972 Nick Ut took just such a picture, a photograph that stopped the war. The photograph is said to be one of the most memorable photographs of the 20th Century.

He moved out of Vietnam when Saigon fell and eventually settled in LA. He spent more than 50 years as a photojournalist, photographing famous events, politics and celebrities. However, his best known photo was actually taken at the beginning of his career and in my opinion had the biggest impact.

Ut won a World Press Photo and the Pulitzer Prize for the picture in 1973.

In 2012 he was inducted by the Leica Hall of Fame for his contributions to photojournalism.

Kim Phuc survived, and she and Nick Ut met again after the Vietnam conflict. Ut said he was very happy when he looked at the picture because it changed the war.

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Want to find out more?

"Fire Road: The Napalm Girl’s Journey through the Horrors of War to Faith, Forgiveness, and Peace": This book tells the story of Kim Phuc, the subject of Nick Ut's famous "Napalm Girl" photograph. It recounts her journey from the horrors of the Vietnam War to finding faith, forgiveness, and peace. The book provides a deeper understanding of the impact of Ut's iconic photograph and the life of its subject.

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If you want to find more information here are some sources and interesting pages:

Time 100 photos

1972 Napalm Girl Photo, Photographer Nick Ut

I took the picture that changed the war: Nick Ut

World Press Photo

Vietnam war's 'napalm girl' Kim Phuc has laser treatment to heal wounds

Facebook backs down from 'napalm girl' censorship and reinstates photo

How Nick Ut's Photo 'Napalm Girl' Changed the Vietnam War

The Story Behind the Napalm Girl

Kim Phuc: 'Napalm Girl' from harrowing Vietnam War image receives German prize for peace work