Napalm survivor spreads message of forgiveness
Published Monday June 8th, 2009
'If I can do it, so can you,' says the little girl from the photo
Kim Phuc, immortalized as the young girl in a famous photograph from the Vietnam War, captivated the crowd with her message of forgiveness at the Moncton Wesleyan Celebration Centre on Saturday evening.
"I believe all of us have a story to tell, but right now it's my turn," she said to warm laughter from the audience.
But the room fell completely silent as Phuc continued.
"Now, I will take you back to Vietnam. You will remember me as the little girl running from the napalm fire."
In 1972, American-directed aircraft attacked Phuc's village of Trang Bang. As the nine-year-old and her family fled from the buildings in which they had been hiding, napalm bombs exploded around them. The clothes were burned from her body and the photograph of her, running naked and crying down the road, won a Pulitzer prize and helped shape public opinion about the war.
"The next day, that picture went around the world," she says. "It became famous. It changed the way people viewed the Vietnam War, and all wars. It also changed my life forever."
Phuc suffered severe burns to 65 per cent of her body, requiring 17 operations and a 14-month hospital recovery. She still experiences pain from her injuries, especially when the weather changes.
"But I don't want to talk a lot about the suffering. I realized when I focused on the pain, it just got bigger and bigger and bigger," Phuc says. Instead, she now preaches the value of forgiveness as a weapon against hatred and violence.
"Sometimes a terrible thing can happen in our lives. But, if we're lucky, we can learn from it. It can even make us stronger. Inside of me was a strong little girl who was determined to live."
People in the audience were excited to meet the woman from the iconic photograph.
"I still remember it like it was yesterday," Michel Bertin says of the first time he saw the photo. "I remember having the urge to grab that kid and hold her and protect her. There was no way I was going to miss (seeing her speak). It was that feeling of just knowing she was OK."
Heidi Eaton-Stagg was also drawn by the lure of the famous image.
"Everybody knows where they were when Diana died. Everybody's knows about Kennedy. This picture is like that. It defined a generation," she says.
Others were interested to hear how Phuc overcame the horrific events of the war.
"We found it intriguing," Mark Day says. "She's got quite a story of courage and has so much resilience. To know that we were going to be helping out with such a good cause, that was a double bonus."
Proceeds from the event will go towards the I.N. Network's charitable work in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Dave Marshall, executive director of I.N. Network in Canada, just returned from a trip to the central African country in time to host the event.
"Congo's got the worst sexual violence on the planet. One in three women have been raped," he says. The group is building a women's hospital in the country and hopes to raise $40,000 to complete the project and pay a doctor's salary for one year. Marshall says Phuc's appearance in Moncton will help raise awareness about the situation in Congo, where 5.4 million people have died due to war, disease and famine since 1998. He says the country is home to approximately 30,000 child soldiers.
"It's basically the worst loss of life since the Second World War. Kim is an internationally-known speaker and has really become a symbol of children suffering through war. The victims of war are usually women and children."
Phuc says the goals of the group in Congo reflect her experience as a child in Vietnam and her hopeful message.
"I really want to encourage people to be a blessing, to just help others. Let's help protect these children. Let's give back hope so that these children can enjoy being children again, like your children and my children."
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