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PROFILE:
Kim Phuc: Vietnam War Victim
May 22, 1998    Episode no. 138
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BOB ABERNETHY: Finally, our story of the healing that can sometimes follow even the worst of war. It was told recently at a reception at the U.S. Capitol, sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

Picture of KIM PHU KIM PHUC: We must seek to promote peace in the world.

ABERNETHY: Kim Phuc was nine years old in 1972 in Vietnam when she and her family were caught in a napalm attack on their village. Kim suffered third-degree burns on 75 percent of her body. She had 17 operations. The famous AP photograph of Kim came to symbolize all war victims and won a Pulitzer Prize.

Unidentified Woman: God bless you and your family.

Ms. PHUC: Thank you.

ABERNETHY: Today, at 35, Kim Phuc is married with two sons, a resident of Canada, a Good Will Ambassador for the United Nations, and the head of the Kim Foundation to help children who become victims of war.

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Ms. PHUC: So many individuals have suffered without any photograph to show their pain and agony to the world.

ABERNETHY: Kim also became a convert to Christianity and two years ago, publicly forgave those who caused her injuries.

Ms. PHUC: I forgive because I just thank God he gave to me the ability to live without hatred.

ABERNETHY: Kim says she's without bitterness, even as she attends meetings around the world and watches again and again the images from 1972.

Ms. PHUC: It was the skill of doctor which mended my body, my skin, but it took the power of God's love to heal my heart.

Picture of KIM PHU ABERNETHY: As you may have noticed, Kim Phuc chose a poignant setting from which to forgive those who harmed her, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, whose haunting walls contain the names of the more than 58,000 Americans killed or missing in action in Vietnam.

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