Nguyễn Ngọc Loan Executing Nguyễn Văn Lém - Vietnam War

Vietnam War

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Nguyễn Ngọc Loan executing Nguyễn Văn Lém

WhoEddie Adams was a notable American photojournalist who won a Pulitzer prize for the photographing of 13 wars. Eddie Adams took many images of the Vietnam War, and believed that the execution was justified because Nguyễn Văn Lém had murdered one of his friends claiming that "how do you know you wouldn't have pulled the trigger yourself?" (qtd. in Grundenberg)When Feb. 1, 1968Why The photo was aimed at an international audience to record the history and events of the Vietnam War.Reproduction of the photo The photographer published the photo through his employer, the Associated Press. The photo, along with the video of the education, quickly spread across the world, and was often reproduced as anti-war propaganda.The Message While the image was originally intended to spread the message of this horrible man’s death, but instead many interpreted it as the Vietnam War was causing more harms than benefits for both the U.S. and Vietnam. The execution of Nguyễn Văn Lém was committed upon impulse, and shocked the world. The photo was misinterpreted, and the photographer eventually apologized to Nguyễn Ngoc Loan for the effects that the photo had on his life (“Saigon Execution”).Interpretation The Vietnam War inflicted a lot of anger and violence. The war was between the Communists of the North and its allies, the Viet Cong, and Southern Vietnam allied with the U.S. The civil war caused an overwhelming amount of distrust and paranoia, leading to much violence and outcries. The photo captures the “us or them” attitude of the war, and the extent to which people were willing to go to defend their beliefs.Historical BackgroundEddie’s Adams photo, taken on February 1, 1968, was a key example of the aggression caused by the communist and anti-communist groups. The man being executed, Nguyen Van Lem, was the captain of a terrorist squad of the Viet Cong; in addition, Lem had murdered the family of one of his executor’s fellow commanders (Thomas). The executor, Nguyen Ngoc Loan, was a Brigadier General and the commander of the police in Saigon; subsequently, he shot Lem on site and on impulse. The scene was photographed by Adams, and recorded on video by NBC News, and led to a large upflow of antiwar sentiment in the U.S (Grundenberg). The image, on the contrary, was not intended to make the executor seem hyper violent or trigger anger, but instead was supposed to be the execution of a person who had killed many innocent people in the name of communism. Loan had spent most of his life trying to prevent the communists, particularly the Viet Cong, from hurting more people, and eventually lost a leg to his attempts (Thomas). Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates. Get Started Photo used under Creative Commons from Recuerdos de Pandora