By Daniel Hooker
On June 8th 1972, a young girl ran screaming in agony, her body engulfed in flames by bombs dropped full of napalm. The world would be forever changed by the Pulitzer Prize photograph of this. It was one of many horrific instances created by the insanity we call war. The young girl’s name is Phan Thị Kim Phúc.
Her body had been completely burned. She had nerve-ending issues throughout her life and problems with arthritis. Kim Phúc overcame the pain of her past to actually create peace within herself and others. Letting go of that pain, suffering, and torture that her people and family went through, and herself – that is true forgiveness. She later became an ambassador of peace and reconciliation.
Between Vietnamese soldiers and Americans, Kim Phúc would create a safe place for both sides, by inviting them to exchange life as it really is. She did this by bringing them together to share the normalcy of daily home life. Many American veterans would make this journey to Vietnam and it would change them, and their perspectives of life itself.
One such man was a friend of mine, Richard Smith. He stayed with a famous general and his family as an honored guest. Richard was just a corpsman aboard a Navy vessel – not high-ranking. Yet, he was accepted not only as a guest, but as family. Experiencing the kindness of a once-feared opponent, he discovered that the Vietnamese were tight-woven families just like us. There wasn’t anything really to fear, just to embrace in the commonality of being human. When he was embraced as part of the family, forgiveness sprouted from his soul, and he discovered who the Vietnamese really are.
How do we get so conditioned that we forget each other’s humanity? Kim Phúc shows us we’re just human. We can sit and have a meal and laugh and cry together. And share all those emotions that humans have, and walk away from the table, satiated.
In 2008 on National Public Radio, Khim Phúc read an essay she wrote called “The Long Road to Forgiveness:”
“Forgiveness made me free from hatred. I still have many scars on my body and severe pain most days but my heart is cleansed. Napalm is very powerful, but faith, forgiveness, and love are much more powerful. We would not have war at all if everyone could learn how to live with true love, hope, and forgiveness. If that little girl in the picture can do it, ask yourself: Can you?”
