The image, taken for the Associated Press by a year-old Vietnamese-American photographer named Nick Ut , shows her at nine years of age running naked on a road after being severely burned on her back by a South Vietnamese napalm attack. The New York Times editors were at first hesitant to consider the photo for publication because of the nudity, but they eventually approved it. A cropped version of the photo—with the press photographers to the right removed—was featured on the front page of The New York Times the next day.
A number of the early operations were performed by Finnish plastic surgeon Aarne Rintala [ sv ]. Less publicized is the film, [ 19 ] shot by British television cameraman Alan Downes for the British Independent Television News ITN and his Vietnamese counterpart Le Phuc Dinh, who was working for the American television network NBC , which shows the events just before and after the photograph was taken [ 20 ] [ 21 ] [ 22 ] In the top-left frame, a man stands and appears to take photographs as a passing airplane drops bombs.
After a few seconds, she encounters the reporters dressed in military fatigues, [ 23 ] including Christopher Wain top-right frame , who gave her water and poured some over her burns.
Sections of the film shot were included in Hearts and Minds , the Academy Award -winning documentary about the Vietnam War directed by Peter Davis. Audio tapes of President Richard Nixon , in conversation with his chief of staff, H. Haldeman in , reveal that Nixon mused, "I'm wondering if that was fixed", after seeing the photograph.
The picture for me and unquestionably for many others could not have been more real. The photo was as authentic as the Vietnam War itself. The horror of the Vietnam War recorded by me did not have to be fixed. That terrified little girl is still alive today and has become an eloquent testimony to the authenticity of that photo. It has ultimately changed both our lives. Carl Robinson, a former Associated Press photo editor in Saigon, alleges that the bureau's chief of photos Horst Faas had ordered him to change credit for the image and "make it Nick Ut".
