KIM PHUC

The Girl in the Picture

Every picture tells a story, but none like this one. A photograph of a young girl running naked down a road, her skin on fire from napalm, changed the way the world looked at the Vietnam War. The girl in the picture is Kim Phuc.

This photograph of Kim remains one of the most unforgettable images of the Vietnam War and is credited with prompting support for hastening the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam. For the next 20 years the Communist regime in Vietnam used Kim as a national symbol of war in all their propaganda.

On June 8, 1972, an American commander ordered napalm bombs to be dropped by the South Vietnamese. Nine-year-old Kim fled from a Caodai Temple, where she and her family were hiding. The third-degree burns covering half her body would require many operations and years of therapy.

The Kim Foundation is a non-profit organization committed to funding programs to heal children in war-torn areas of the world. Today Kim is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and tells her story of recovery, forgiveness and courage, inspiring audiences around the globe.

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