In a piece for The Wall Street Journal, Kim Phuc Phan Thi writes about the identity she has been trying to escape her whole life: that of the “Napalm Girl.” She is the object of a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph from 1972. In it, she is nine-years-old, running along a roadway in front of an expressionless soldier. Her arms are outstretched and she is naked and shrieking, from both pain and fear, as a napalm cloud billows in the distance. Many have called the photograph a turning point in the Vietnam War. Phan Thi writes that she had been “in the wrong place at the wrong time,” and her own people had dropped bombs on Route 1 in an effort to cut off the trade routes for the Viet Cong rebels. She is still receiving treatment for the burns that cover her arms, back and neck, but she says the emotional and spiritual pain was worse than the physical burns. She said that the bombs caused her pain and suffering but also led her to Jesus Christ. Phan Thi says that no “matter what type of pain or sorrow you may be experiencing, as Christmas approaches, I encourage you not to give up. Hold fast to hope. It is hope that will see you through.”
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
