Nick Ut, born in 1951, was a photographer for the Associated Press who traveled to Vietnam during the war to capture moments of true horrors that would shock the world. The sole purpose of the Vietnam War was for the United States and its anti-communist allies to keep communism contained. The United States wanted to fight so anxiously that they even set the snare to bait North Vietnam into war. On August 2, the destroyer USS Maddox was patrolling the Gulf of Tonkin when suddenly engaged by three North Vietnamese Navy torpedo boats. The aftermath of the battle left the US with no casualties except the impairment of one US aircraft. Unfortunately for the North Vietnamese, all three boats were severely damaged while four sailors were killed and six were wounded. The U.S. took advantage of this and faked a second battle on August 4. The government allegedly claimed that the Maddox was attacked again and in retaliation destroyed two more North Vietnamese torpedo boats. A declassified study released in 2005 concluded that this attack never occurred. President Johnson abused this fallacy and then proceeded to present an elaborate speech that would gain US support for an attack on Vietnam. Within the next day, the US had enacted their revenge and bombed four torpedo boat bases and an oil-storage facility (Gulf of Tonkin Incident). Of course, China and the Soviet Union could not just stay put, and ended up funding the North Vietnamese forces, resulting in the Tet Offensive. This massive counterattack gave Americans the message, the war was a big deal and the Americans were not dominating. Besides war on the fronts, there were the atrocities and lies involved with secret maneuvers such as the bombings of Cambodia. Back in the United States thousands of people rose up in protest. There were a great deal of anti-war beliefs amongst the people. So many lives were lost, and Vietnamese lifestyles were completely changed. Phan Phuc, an innocent little girl, had to suddenly evacuate from her home in Trang Bang with her family to another location, because South Vietnamese planes decided to drop a napalm bomb there to retaliate against the North Vietnamese occupants. Unfortunately, a plane pilot mistook Phuc and others for enemies, and proceeded to kill two of her cousins as well as two other villagers. Ut was able to take the Pulitzer Prize winning photograph, the authenticity of which was doubted even by President Nixon, because it was horrific beyond belief (Nick Ut).
Here in the photograph the naked girl running for her life is Phuc. She had to strip off all of her clothing because it had caught on fire. She was still left with many severe burns. When Ut took her and the other victims to the hospital, the doctors said she most likely would not live. She remained in the hospital for fourteen months and underwent seventeen surgical procedures before becoming well enough to return home (Phan Thi Kim Phuc). The children are so young, yet they were scarred with this experience that is more terrible than what most people go through in an entire lifetime. All of the kids are completely freaking out, and can only do the one possible thing in this situation, run. The soldiers are so nonchalant, not even carrying the children out or helping them. This is most likely because they too have suffered so much, and have become accustomed to the epidemic of death. The skies are barely visible, because of all the pollution from the bomb. War is traumatizing for adults, so it must be much worse for children. All of this violence only for one goal, to keep communism contained. Regardless of how many people die, it is fine, because the President only has to care about the Americans and their wants, the wants that he easily manipulates, and can totally ignore the pains of loss in Vietnam. War should never be instigated solely for the purpose of persecuting beliefs such as in this situation, especially when the United States is famous for its liberties and rights.
