![]() ![]() ![]() What do most people not understand about “Saigon Execution”? The photo shows General Loan, arm outstretched, shooting a prisoner who looked like a civilian, though he was actually a Viet Cong guerrilla. Robbins-author of “This Time We Win: Revisiting the Tet Offensive” (Encounter Books)-about the incident, and what impact it had on the war effort and the life of General Loan. To help put the photo in context, I asked James S. But the reality is that the shooter (General Nguyen Ngoc Loan), was executing a ruthless Viet Cong assassin (Nguyen Van Lem, aka Bay Lop), who was leading a team that had targeted the general himself. Taken out of context, the photo seems to evince a senseless act of brutality, which explains why it was later used in support of the moral argument that protestors made against the war. The image-by combat photographer Eddie Adams-captures the moment a uniformed South Vietnamese officer fires a bullet into the head of a man who appears to be a civilian. ![]() “Saigon Execution” is one of the most recognizable photographs in military history, and it played a contributing role in turning public opinion against the Vietnam War. Nguyen Ngoc Loan, chief of the National Police, moments before he fires a shot from his pistol into the head of suspected Viet Cong Officer Nguyen Van Lem (also known as Bay Lop) on a Saigon street Feb. Ut won a Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography in 1973 for his 1972 Associated Press photograph of Phan Thi Kim Phuc. I say no more pictures, I want to help Kim Phuc right away." 4o years later, Ut and Kim still stay in touch, and because of this tragic yet infamous picture their lives have become intertwined forever. She just said, 'I'm dying, I'm dying, I'm dying,' and, 'I need some water, bring water.' Right away, run and put water on her body. Then when she passed my camera, I saw her body burned so badly, I said, 'Oh my God, I don't want no more pictures.' She was screaming and crying. Nick Ut described the scene: "I keep shooting, shooting pictures of Kim running. Ut and some other journalists quickly ran to help the burned villagers, saving Kim's life. She was naked from having her clothes burned off. Ut captured Kim Phuc and others running out of the bombed village. Nine-year-old Kim Phuc was with a group of civilians trying to flee the village when the planes mistook them for soldiers and bombed them with naplam. Forty years ago, June 8, 1972, an Associated Press photographer, Nick Ut, was shooting photos outside of Trang Bang village, South Vietnam. The terrified girl had ripped off her burning clothes while fleeing. A South Vietnamese plane accidentally dropped its flaming napalm on South Vietnamese troops and civilians. South Vietnamese forces follow after terrified children, including 9-year-old Kim Phuc, center, as they run down Route 1 near Trang Bang after an aerial napalm attack on suspected Viet Cong hiding places on June 8, 1972. He represents all soldiers in every war: the fact that he is guiding a rescue chopper is irrelevant … I salute this masterpiece." –Douglas Duncan silhouetted against the dust of battle deep in the Vietnam Forest. "Greenspon's shot is, of course, anchored upon the solider – head thrown back arms reaching toward the heaven … and help. When the image was sent back to the States and hit the wire famed photographer Douglas Duncan proclaimed that it was a “masterpiece” and the best picture of the war yet. While covering the evac Art Greenspon took this picture. During one such American 5-day patrol a firefight between communist fighters and the 101st Airborne troops resulted in a number of wounded. As such South Vietnamese forces often backed by American units frequently patrolled the valley seeking to stop the flow of war material. The Ashau Valley near Hue, Vietnam was a one of the main through fares of the Ho Chi Ming Trail, a supply line that provided weapons and supplies to the Vietcong fighting Western backed forces in South Vietnam. While stationed with American 101st Airborne Division near Hue he captured this picture of man with his hands raised directing a medical evacuation helicopter to remove wounded men of A Company, 101st Airborne. The photographer, Art Greenspon, who was then 26-years old, had traveled to Vietnam and was promptly hired as an AP stringer. As fellow troopers aid wounded comrades, the first sergeant of A Company, 101st Airborne Division, guides a medevac helicopter through the foliage to pick up casualties suffered during a five-day patrol near Hue in April 1968. ![]()
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