I grew up in the small village of Trang Bang, in South Vietnam. My mother said I was a very happy little girl. We led a simple life without ever knowing hunger, my family had a farm and my mother ran the best restaurant in town. I loved school and playing with my cousins and the other children in the village, skipping rope or hide and seek.
“Napalm sticks to your skin”
Everything changed on June 8, 1972. I only have memories of that dreadful day. I was playing with my cousins in the courtyard of the temple. The next minute a plane appeared and I heard a terrible noise. Then there were the explosions, the smoke and the unbearable pain.
The napalm sticks to your skin and running is useless. It gives horrible burns and pains that last a lifetime. I don’t remember running or screaming “Nong qua, nong qua! “(It’s too hot, too hot!”), but the video and other accounts testify to this.
You probably saw the picture taken of me that day when I was trying to escape the explosions. A completely naked little girl, her arms wide open, screaming in pain. Taken by South Vietnamese photographer Nick Ut, who worked for the US News Agency Associated Press, the photo made headlines around the world and won a Pulitzer Prize. Over time, it has become one of the most famous images from the Vietnam War.
“Photographer Nick Ut saved my life”
With this extraordinary photo, Nick turned my life upside down. But he also saved my life. After taking the photo, he put down his camera, wrapped me in a blanket and took me for treatment. I am eternally grateful to him.
Yet I remember hating it. Child, I don’t sup
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The New York Times (New York)
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Vietnam War. “I am no longer the little napalm girl in the photo”