The Kim Phuc photo (see main story) is one of the top 100 works of the century, according to New York University’s Department of Journalism. 

The Pulitzer prize-winning photograph placed 41st in the list ranking the most influential media produced in the 20th century. 

Paul Coates, a Mount Royal photojournalism instructor, supports the University’s decision. 

"Really good photojournalism is about informing and motivating," he said. "The photo informed people about what was happening (during the Vietnam War) and motivated the Americans to pull out of the war." 

Snapped by AP photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut in 1972, the picture depicts a screaming girl fleeing a napalm attack. It’s often credited with turning American opinion irrevocably against the Vietnam War. 

To Coates, the "powerful photo" communicates tragedy and hope. 

"I saw a different photo of Kim taken just a few years ago," he said. "She was holding a child, bare-shouldered with welts on her back and arm. 

"She survived and went on to have her own family--a true testament to the human spirit." 

The picture also represents the difference between technologically advanced countries and impoverished ones, Coates says. “It’s about one person having power over another. Kim had no chance to defend herself.” 

The Vietnam War is sometimes referred to as "the living room war." 
 
"(The coverage) changed the way news is delivered,” Coates said. “Everyone had TVs and the war unfolded in their living rooms." 

He says civilians were given a first-hand look at the atrocities of war that they couldn’t ignore. 

"The reality of war was brought home to them. People had to deal with seeing the kid next-door with an arm torn off or worse." 

He believes Phuc’s tragedy put a human face on the war. 

By 1970, a battle was being fought on the mainland of the United States by war protestors and supporters. 

Coates said, “The other side of the war was the one fought on the streets and campuses of the United States.” 

Although Phuc’s life has been shaped in many ways by her famous picture, Coates says Ut did the right thing by sharing her image with the world. 

“A war zone situation is always considered fair game,” he said. “I don’t mean to sound flip, but it’s a situation that would have occurred without the presence of the photographer and, we as photogournalists, should cover it.” 

Officially, the United States entered the war because they were fearful of the ‘domino theory.’ 

The theory advised that if South Vietnam fell to the Communists, they would conquer the rest of Southeast Asia. 

Meanwhile, the North Vietnamese said they were fighting to unite their country against imperialism. 

Jewel Spangler, a History professor at the University of algary, says the Americans wanted to promote their system of government. 

“They thought democracy was the right way to govern and they were prepared to enforce that idea,” she said. 

Spangler believes the Americans underestimated their enemy. 

“The United States was surprised by the tenaciousness of the North Vietnamese,” she said. “(The Communists) would accept limitless casualties to achieve their objective.” 

Adding to the Americans’ difficulties, Spangler says, was their failure to define attainable goals and the lack of support by the South Vietnamese. “They were trying to win the battle for the hearts and minds of the people with the butts of their guns,” Spangler noted, “The US should have done more research about what they were getting into.” 
 
The Americans ended their 20-year involvement in Vietnam in 1973. The war continued until North Vietnam emerged victorious in 1975. The country was reunified in 1976 under a Communist regime. 

Vietnam is governed by Communism today.