The Photograph That Ended a War But Ruined a Life
Eddie Adams, 1968
"Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world," AP photojournalist Eddie Adams once wrote. A fitting quote for Adams, because his 1968 photograph of an officer shooting a handcuffed prisoner in the head at point-blank range not only earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 1969, but also went a long way toward souring Americans’ attitudes about the Vietnam War.
For all the image’s political impact, though, the situation wasn’t as black-and-white as it’s rendered. What Adams’ photograph doesn’t reveal is that the man being shot was the captain of a Vietcong "revenge squad" that had executed dozens of unarmed civilians earlier the same day. Regardless, it instantly became an icon of the war’s savagery and made the official pulling the trigger - General Nguyen Ngoc Loan - its iconic villain.
Sadly, the photograph’s legacy would haunt Loan for the rest of his life. Following the war, he was reviled where ever he went. After an Australian VA hospital refused to treat him, he was transferred to the United States, where he was met with a massive (though unsuccessful) campaign to deport him. He eventually settled in Virginia and opened a restaurant but was forced to close it down as soon as his past caught up with him. Vandals scrawled "we know who you are" on his walls, and business dried up.
Adams felt so bad for Loan that he apologized for having taken the photo at all, admitting, "The general killed the Vietcong; I killed the general with my camera." from Internetweekly
As a teenager I saw this on the evening news while eating dinner...and let me just say that it wasn't expected or well received in our household. I know I'll never forget it. I also watched Lee Harvey Oswald die live on a Sunday morning (if memory serves)...and that was a jaw dropper for a kid. Probably the first transfixed moment of my life. Trust me...more would unfortunately follow. I also knew someone killed that fateful night at Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski's house by Charlie Manson's group...and the next day when Manson sent out his henchmen again to Leno and Rosemary's house (picked randomly) I had a connection to them too. Tonight I just happened to come across this photo and a flood of memories came back to haunt me. This was some powerful stuff back in the day...
It seems Mr. Loan came face to face with America's Christian forgiveness.
I remember this picture very well, it was in a yearbook my uncle (who worked for AP) gave us, although I wa too young to fully understand what was happening in it.
Posted by
Lew Scannon |
3:19 AM
This is a prime example of a picture being worth a thousand words.
Posted by
pissed off patricia |
7:34 AM
Today graphic scenes of violence are so common that a picture like this one would probably not even make the news..
Posted by
Anonymous |
4:00 PM
We've had a few lately that come close to telling the story this photo did. I'm sure something will come up and put the right 1000 words together. Some call this a "wedge" photo.
Posted by
Peacechick Mary |
4:31 PM
Some of the pictures from Iraq of children and effects this war is having on them are, like this picture, iconic. Tragedy transfixed and immortalized.
Posted by
fallenmonk |
5:54 PM
This is the picture that is engraved in the recesses of my mind for ever. Strangely enough, I have never spent even a single minute in wondering what took place immediately after. Now I know.
Posted by
Anonymous |
9:23 PM
An amazing photo & story.
This is the very reason this administration does not want caskets or any other type of image shown.
Always sad, but never forgotten, and simply by hiding them, doesn't make the stories go away! ; (
Posted by
Coffee Messiah |
6:51 AM