Eddie Adams' "Saigon Execution"

[Paul D]

My father was in the ARVN as surgeon. I grew up knowing that Gen. Nguyen killed an absolute monster.

[Irelander]

Thanks for posting this. Knowledge is power.

[RevolverRob]

My father was in the ARVN as surgeon. I grew up knowing that Gen. Nguyen killed an absolute monster.

That had to have been an extremely difficult job. If your father is still alive, please pass my appreciation for his efforts along. If he has passed, he was clearly an honorable and great man.

___

An anecdotal story - I was teaching a class for university freshmen a couple of years ago. Ninety-five freshmen from all over Texas crammed into a lab room, learning to become scientists. A number of them wanted to go on to medical careers or STEM science careers. It was a little past mid-way through the fall term, these kids first term in college, away from home, and they are working hard, and everyone was suffering from the burnout of long weeks of coming in during off times to manage their term projects. I too was feeling burnt out and one afternoon having lunch with some colleagues we stopped at the on campus museum to view an exhibit of photographs by the Magnum Photos Collective (http://www.magnumphotos.com/) - who has had photographers shoot photos from around the world basically since WWI. They have recorded a lot of different global events from wars, prison riots, underground rock and roll movements in the Soviet Union, to a lot of pop Hollywood stuff. As I walked through the exhibit, I was struck by how awe-inspiring it was. Each photograph contained a story from the photographer, to preserve its posterity. Events ranged from WWI to the war in Afghanistan, and globally. After leaving the exhibit I was reminded that not all of the world is in a science classroom. I went straight to the lab and made up an extra credit assignment. Students could go view this free exhibit and write just one paragraph on a photo they found compelling, it didn't matter to me, the exercise was merely to get them out of the lab and classroom and to experience something broader than their personal bubbles.

The response was overwhelming. The one that really stuck with me though...A student who was first-generation Vietnamese-American. He was born in Texas and grew up in Texas, aspects of Vietnam were strictly from stories. He said the photos that struck him the most was a series of photos of young ARVN soldiers, not any older than him, who were being led by a slightly older ARVN soldier. He realized...as he looked at those photos, that this could have been his grandfather, his uncles, his father. That this was what they had talked to him about, his whole life, he saw in these photographs his own family history. He saw in these photographs the reality of what his family had seen, he felt, for the first time, a true connection to his own history. I spoke with him later about the exhibit and he looked at me and said, with moist eyes, "Thank you for the opportunity. To learn, to learn to do science, to engage in this. And thank you for encouraging me to see those photographs. I was forever changed by seeing them and I feel more connected and less lost than ever before." -

A picture maybe worth 1000 words as a general news story. But it could be worth 10,000 words to someone who sees it for the first time. It's good to know the context of a photograph, but sometimes it's the subject matter that matters the most...

-Rob

[Duelist]

Rob - you made a greater difference in that young man's life than everything else you could have taught him. That is awesome!

[TAZ]

As with everything in life pictures are a tool. They can be used as a tool to motivate, inspire and engage people. Similarly they can be used to destroy and manipulate. They are nothing more than an infinitesimally small snapshot in time. Unless honestly represented the viewer will never know what happened before or after that little slice of life. Its sad that this picture wasnt properly framed by its owner and allowed to destroy its true meaning.

[El Cid]

Great article! The most horrifying image in that article is of Gen Loan muzzling his support hand while holstering.

[Hot Sauce]

Great article! The most horrifying image in that article is of Gen Loan muzzling his support hand while holstering.

Haha, I was wondering when someone was going to ask if he was perfectly aware of his target's foreground and background.

[RoyGBiv]

Thanks for the educational post OP.