Somethings Broken: Kim Phuc Speaks at Ryerson

"Before the war, I was never afraid. Then one day soldiers came pounding on our door very loud. And that day I knew fear," said Kim Phuc. Her voice was soft and level as she spoke to students at Ryerson University.

Kim is best known as the naked nine year old girl in the photograph from the Vietnam war taken by Nick Ut, an AP photographer. In the photo, Kim is running from a napalm explosion, burnt and screaming from the pain.

The morning after that photo was taken, it was known all around the world. Nick Ut won a pulitzer prize.
It has changed the way we look at the Vietnam war and at all wars.

During her talk, she spoke about her childhood before and after the war, before and after that photograph and those four bombs.
"I was nine. I knew nothing of pain. I'd fallen off my bike and it hurt," she told the crowed with a smile. "But napalm is the most terrible pain you can imagine. It's gasoline burning under the skin."
(Keep in mind, water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. Napalm burns at 800 to 900 degrees Celsius.)

Despite the painful memories and the painful scars, Kim Phuc spoke eloquently and with a light heart, making jokes and laughing easily.

I'd heard that she is a very happy person willing to share what she was learned. But I don't think I believed it until yesterday.
She spoke of the horrible things that happened to her. But she never spoke with bitterness or anger, which surprised me.
If I had been in that situation, I would be furious with those involved in the Vietnam war. I would probably just be a warped, frustrated old woman. I wouldn't be able to talk about the experience with as much grace, understanding and enlightenment as Kim does.
Her acceptance is truly something to admire.

Kim now lives as a Canadian citizen in Ajax with her husband and two sons. She travels regularly to speak about her experience, raise awareness and promote peace.