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Burn Survivor Kim Phuc Speaks About Ordeal
Kim Phuc Photographer Nick Ut: "I Suppose The Big Difference Is That...Frankly, I Don't Give A Damn About Paris Hilton"

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cirocco
09/11/09

In reply to Burn Survivor Kim Phuc Speaks About Ordeal

I have a Time/Life book of pictures that includes this one of Kim Phuc and her baby. The infant's flawlessness contrasted with her war-scarred skin embodies the promise of renewal.
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Ruby_de_la_Booby
09/11/09

In reply to Burn Survivor Kim Phuc Speaks About Ordeal
When I hear our government not allowing or fighting publication of photos of our Iraq/Afghanistan casualties, I think of pictures like this. So many iconic images that can really bring home the awfulness of war. I don't need protection from that. In fact, we should be required to see it.
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colormeroutine
09/11/09

@Ruby_de_la_Booby: But then people might start realizing that "collateral damage" actually means real people. And then they might not blindly support wars. We can't have that obviously
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Lymed
09/11/09

@Ruby_de_la_Booby: When the freedom of press is curtailed by the government, they are curtailed because the government does not want the people to learn the truth.
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thatgirlinnewyork
09/11/09

@Ruby_de_la_Booby: indeed. the voices of the victims need to be heard.
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dkissam
09/11/09

In reply to Burn Survivor Kim Phuc Speaks About Ordeal
My god, I never noticed the *soldiers*, before. Are they truly just walking casually behind burning, naked, screaming children?

I don't mean to be incendiary, just wondering if my reading is right.
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Lymed
09/11/09

@dkissam: What could do the soldiers do to help the children? The best they could do was get them to a safe location. Sadly, I think there were too many children to carry.
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Lymed
09/11/09

In reply to Burn Survivor Kim Phuc Speaks About Ordeal
Although my pain is not from violence, I can related to her comment about pain. You can't escape the pain because you can't escape your body. But humans are resilient and many not only learn to live with pain, they learn to use the experience to prevent others from their same fate.
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msAnthrope
09/11/09

@Lymed: i know, i thought the same thing. especially where she talks about how even now she still has recurring pain. the psychological drag caused by relentless, chronic pain is almost as bad as the actual physical sensations. the world can become very small from it. in light of this, what she's doing is even more remarkable.
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Edited by msAnthrope at 09/11/09 1:06 PM msAnthrope was starred msAnthrope was unstarred

Lymed
09/11/09

@msAnthrope: At least for me, the psychological drag is much less if you use the pain to focus your energy. It is a lot easier for me to deal with my pain knowing that because of my health experiences, I'm working to get people access to health care so their illnesses can get diagnosed and treated before they impact their life like mine has. It does take strength to focus that energy, but at the same time, it can make your life easier. You have a reason to get out of bed in spite of your pain.
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msAnthrope
09/11/09

@Lymed:

it takes a ton of strength to focus energy in that way when you're in the midst of pain. i really admire you.
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Lymed
09/11/09

@msAnthrope: Thanks. But in a way it is selfish, my pain is much worse when I'm not distracted.
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LaComtesse
09/11/09

In reply to Burn Survivor Kim Phuc Speaks About Ordeal
I am never anything but humbled and full of awe when I encounter someone willing to bear witness to atrocity.
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Edited by LaComtesse at 09/11/09 12:55 PM LaComtesse was starred LaComtesse was unstarred

Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny.
09/11/09

@LaComtesse: I cry every time I hear the Hindenburg recording.
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sybilstryk
09/11/09

In reply to Burn Survivor Kim Phuc Speaks About Ordeal
Can't help but tear up at this. Bless her for making something positive out of something so tragic. When I vacationed in Vietnam I would get so emotional at times. There are victims of the war all over Hanoi, carrying on with their lives with burns and missing limbs. Some have been reduced to begging. Seeing the American vets in the US who were also affected and then seeing the Vietnamese in their own country... it just makes me sick to think this is still going on but only the faces and names have changed.

The Vietnamese by the way were always welcoming, accommodating and respectful. I cried when a Vietnamese veteran asked me if I was American and shook my hand. He teared up too, his expression was full of gratitude. It's a beautiful country and if you ever get the chance, go.
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singingcircusdog
09/11/09

In reply to Burn Survivor Kim Phuc Speaks About Ordeal
I never knew that the girl in this photo survived. It's so inspiring that she not only lived, but went on to work for peace.
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Rona
09/11/09

In reply to Burn Survivor Kim Phuc Speaks About Ordeal
God, the pain that humans can inflict on other humans is horrifying.
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zombies.like.lattés.too
09/11/09

@Rona: There is a chapter on the American pilot who dropped the load of napalm that hit Kim Phuc and the rest of her family in Denise Chong's book "The Girl in the Picture". It was not meant for civilians.
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Hana Maru promoted this comment Edited by zombies.like.lattés.too at 09/11/09 1:15 PM

Hana Maru
09/11/09

@zombies.like.lattés.too: Yes it was, whatever the official line. We never declared war in Vietnam. We were fighting guerrillas that we could not distinguish from civilians. We killed everybody, on purpose. It makes me ashamed to be American.
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Edited by Hana Maru at 09/11/09 2:41 PM Hana Maru was starred Hana Maru was unstarred

CurtCole
09/11/09

In reply to Burn Survivor Kim Phuc Speaks About Ordeal
I am amazed that someone who suffered so severely from an act of war could find it in her heart to forgive and become a champion of peace.
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Mary McCarthyite
09/11/09

@CurtCole: I did my thesis on the Vietnam War and a lot of American journalists in Vietnam (ahem, Mary McCarthy included) noticed that an inherent trait in Vietnamese people was the ability to be peaceful and forgiving, even while the war was going on. It heartening to know that this woman is a speaker and an activist now.
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CurtCole
09/11/09

@Mary McCarthyite: Dare I say that we, as a nation, have a great deal to learn from this woman.
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Miss. Money-Sterling
09/11/09

@CurtCole: It happens. My grandfather spent all of WW2 in a series of Japanese prison camps (including one where he missed becoming a victim of a mass burial because he was lucky enough to have malaria and was separated from the rest of the population) and in the years following the war he spent a lot of time advocating for the rights of Japanese prisoners held by the United States. I think that sometimes tragedy can actually make people acutely aware of the suffering of others, and that working to ensure that what happened to you doesn't happen to others can be a healing thing.
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QuicheLorraine
09/11/09

In reply to Burn Survivor Kim Phuc Speaks About Ordeal
I really appreciate when the subjects of such iconic photographs (like Dorothy Lange's "Migrant Mother") are allowed to break the fourth wall and tell us how they view their own stories.
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