![]() ![]() The General killed the Viet Cong I killed the general with my camera. Although that is no bad thing, it also demonized General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, which was something Eddie Adams was extremely sorry for. The image of Lem’s execution, and public reaction to it, played a small role in bringing the Vietnam War to an end. This may have been the end of Lem’s life, but it was not the end of the story. The question is- how would you have reacted, on both sides of the coin? This was a dangerous man, who in the name of patriotism nonetheless believed his political stance justified his actions, as presumably did General Loan himself concerning the execution. From Loan’s perspective, the man before him was a cold blooded killer who not only killed some of his friends and colleagues, but their families and other innocent people. Military lawyers have not yet decided with complete certainty whether or not Loan’s actions violated the Geneva Conventions relating to the treatment of prisoners of war, so there is no official decision on the matter. Was this the right thing to do? As with so many things connected to war, the answer to that question is murky at best. The General then walked up to Adams and said, “They killed many of my people, and yours, too,” then walked away The man just pulled a pistol out of his holster, raised it to the VC’s head and shot him in the temple. So I prepared to make that picture – the threat, the interrogation. It was common to hold a pistol to the head of prisoners during questioning. He took a pistol out of his holster and raised it. I saw a man walk into my camera viewfinder from the left. When they were close – maybe five feet away – the soldiers stopped and backed away. I just followed the three of them as they walked towards us, making an occasional picture. ![]() The photographer, Eddie Adams, had this to say of capturing the photo: In a street in Saigon, Loan executed Lem with his. Lem’s widow also confirmed that her husband was a member of the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong), and that he disappeared before the beginning of the Tet Offensive.Īfter being captured with the bodies during the Tet Offensive, Nguyen Van Lem was taken to Major General Ngoc Loan. Eddie Adams, the photojournalist who took the shot, backs up this story. This grave contained the bodies of no less than seven South Vietnamese police officers, as well as their families, around 34 bound and shot bodies in total. It is said that Lem had recently been responsible for the murder of one of Loan’s most senior officers, as well as the murder of the officer’s family.Īccording to accounts at the time, when South Vietnamese officers captured Lem, he was more or less caught in the act, at the site of a mass grave. They may have even been plotting to kill the shooter himself, Major General Nguyen Ngoc Loan. Lem’s team was attempting to take down a number of South Vietnamese officials. Not just any member, either, he was an assassin and the leader of a Viet Cong death squad who had been targeting and killing South Vietnamese National Police officers and their families. Lem was no civilian he was a member of the Viet Cong. This man’s name was Nguyen Van Lem, but he was also known as Captain Bay Lop. But, when you learn the story behind the man who is being executed in this photo, the image and the reasoning behind the execution becomes a little bit clearer. ![]() It seems like yet another image showing someone acting horrifically and immorally during war time. Without understanding the background, there is no reason to think that is not the case. That is the reason this image was adopted by anti-war protesters as an indictment against the Vietnam War. You are apparently witnessing a savage war crime. Looking at this image out of context, it appears as though an officer is gunning down an innocent prisoner, perhaps even a civilian. There is an undeniable brutality to this photo, but even Eddie Adams – who won a Pulitzer Prize for capturing this shot – later admitted that it didn’t tell the whole story and he stated that he wished he hadn’t taken it at all. When you look into it, however, there is much more to this photograph than first meets the eye. Perhaps one of the most iconic images to come out of the Vietnam War ( see photo here), this photo depicts a uniformed South Vietnamese officer shooting a prisoner in the head. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |