A biography for Phan Thi Kim Phuchasn’t been written yet.
“Those bombs have brought me immeasurable pain. Even now, some 40 years later, I am still receiving treatment for burns that cover my arms, back, and neck. The emotional and spiritual pain was even harder to endure.”
“My name is Kim Phuc, though you likely know me by another name. It is one I never asked for, a name I have spent a lifetime trying to escape: 'Napalm Girl.'”
“I was as alone as a person can be. I could not turn to a friend, for nobody wished to befriend me. I was toxic, and everyone knew it. To be near me was to be near hardship. Wise people stayed far away. I was alone, atop a mountain of rage. Why was I made to wear these awful scars?”
“God used me that day. Even though so much of my body was burned, my feet were not burned, and so I could run out and be there for that photo. It saved a lot of souls and brought an end to the war.”
“Nine years old, I became the victim of war. I didn't like that picture at all. I felt like, why he took my picture, when I was agony, naked, so ugly? I wished that picture wasn't taken.”
“Behind that picture of me, thousands and thousands of people, they suffered - more than me. They died. They lost parts of their bodies. Their whole lives were destroyed, and nobody took that picture.”
“I had a lot of pity for myself. But I could concentrate more on my studies as a result.”
“Through my experiences, I was living with anger and hatred, which was a really bad thing for me. Then I learned how to forgive, and it freed me from hatred and helped me a lot.”
“Yet I was ready for love and joy. I wanted to let go of my pain. I wanted to pursue life instead of holding fast to fantasies of death.”
“My character is not sad, not angry. In my house, I'm always laughing, smiling, smiling.”
“My dream is that one day, all people will live without fear, in real peace, with no fighting and no hostility.”
“I suffered too much and I want to stop the suffering of other people.”
“I wanted to share my experience with people so that they feel better.”
“I was really embarrassed. And I asked why they took my picture when I was in such agony, and I'm the girl, in the moment that I was naked, burning, hopeless, crying - so ugly. And I asked why they took my picture at that that moment? I didn't like it at all.”
“I have two boys, so I don't want any more child to suffer like me.”
“I really want to say, 'Thank God I'm alive.' I want to forgive the people who caused my suffering. I did.”
“Let the world see how horrible wars can be.”
“I built my life very normal with everything I do.”
“The more I prayed for my enemies, the softer my heart became.”
“In 1974, I cried all day long. I kept putting my well arm next to my left one, which could not move. My mother kept saying, 'Don't be sad. If you cry, I will cry and then we will all be twice as sad.'”