The 3 iconic pictures posted below solely revolves around heart-shattering moments in Vietnam history. They scream the desperation, horror, pain, torture and the final moments between death and life of Vietnamese civilians.
Upon seeing this photograph for the first time, my eyes immediately flew to the naked figure of little Phan Thi Kim Phuc. Like Mrs. Ess said: "Nudity sells." Indeed it does. Although all 4 children in the photograph share the same haunting expression of horror and anguish on their contorted faces,inevitably, our hearts only goes out to Phan Thi Kim Phuc . Somehow, we cannot help but feel only her pain and anguish; and sympathise only with this little girl that had to strip herself naked to escape the flames of the black napalm oil.
Le Phuc Dinh, the NBC cameraman who had managed to capture this historical moment won the Pulitzer Prize, which is the highest form of honour for a photojournalist. It is no wonder why he was awarded this flattering title. Despite the concentrated aura of chaos and emotional-trauma at that time, Le Phuc Dinh had managed to capture the two faces of war - the emotional terror of the victims and the cruel calmness of the perpetrators.
It antagonized me to see the American soldiers behave so casually and impassively towards the screaming children. I could not help but wonder - do they even have the littlest sense of compassion and humanity that God granted exclusively to the human race? I could not help but grit my teeth in protest and agitation towards the oblivious American soldiers. These civilians may not be Americans, but they like all, are human beings.
Immolation means to "sprinkle with sacrificial meal". Self-immolation is suicide by immolation as a form of extreme protest.
Thich Quang Dich was a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk who burned himself to death publicly at a busy Saigon road intersection on 11 June 1963. The motivation behind his ritual suicide was to protest against the persecution of Buddhists by the Ngo Dinh Diem(?)adminstration. The self-immolation is widely seen as the turning point of the Vietnamese Buddhist crisis which led to the change in regime.
On that fateful day, Thich Quang Dich emerged from the car along with two
other monks. One placed a cushion on the road while the second opened the trunk
and took out a five-gallon gasoline can. As the marchers formed a circle around
him, Thich Quang Dich calmly seated himself in the traditional Buddhist
meditative lotus position on the cushion. His colleague emptied the contents of
the gasoline container over Thich Quang Dich's head. Thich Quang Dich rotated a
string of wooden prayer beads and recited the words "Nam Mo A Di Da Phat" ("homage to Amitabha Buddha") before striking a match and dropping it on himself. Flames consumed his robes and flesh, and black oily smoke emanated from his burning body.
The last words of Thich Quang Dich before his self-immolation were documented in a letter he had left:
Before closing my eyes and moving towards the vision of the Buddha, I respectfully plead to President Ngo Dinh Diem to take a mind of compassion towards the people of the nation and implement religious equality to maintain the strength of the homeland eternally. I call the venerables, reverends, members of the sangha and the lay Buddhists to organise in solidarity to make sacrifices to protect Buddhism.
Unlike "The Napalm Girl", this photograph has a completely different theme. In fact, from the background information, "Self-Immolation" is a historical moment of extreme religous and political sacrifice captured on film.
Despite being engulfed in raging flames, Thich Quang Dich remained impassive to the tremendous pain that he was inflicting on himself. He had assumed the disciplined and calm stance of a meditating monk. It occurred to me at once that he must have had a strong motive for sacrificing his life so publicly. He was using his death to convey an impactful message to the government.
The Vietnamese government had prohibited Buddhists from carrying flags on Buddha's birthday. This religiously intrusive act led to an explosion of anger and desperation among the crowd. The shocking fact is – that Saigon was not the only monk who sacrificed his life for the Buddhist religion. The Buddhist leadership had organized demonstrations that eventually led to the death of six other monks, who also burned themselves to death.
This explains why the monks that stood in the background assumed the status of bystanders, with none attempting to save their fellow mate, who might be sacrificing his life in vain.(Why in vain? - Thich Quang Dich's act increased international pressure on Diem and led him to announce reforms with the intention of mollifying the Buddhists. However, the promised reforms were implemented either slowly or not at all, leading to a deterioration in the dispute. )
It takes an indescribable degree of courage to take someone else's life. However, it takes resolve and determination beyond the ordinary human limit to take one's own life, to overcome the natural instinct of survival, and experience the entire process of dying under the eyes of fellow mates until only ash remains.
Why didn't the Buddhists organize riots instead? 7 lives would have been spared then. This is because only death can convey the message of protestation with maximum impact. Like nudity, death sells.
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