KOZHIKODE: The meeting with Nick Ut was a long pending dream for Vinod Krishnan, a faculty at CREST, an autonomous body here, who has specialized in the Vietnam affairs particularly the anti-American war and the post war transformation of the country. “Visiting ‘Tran Bang’ village, the native village of Kim Phuc in Vietnam is almost a pilgrimage to me”, says Mr Krishnan, an occasional visitor to Vietnam. Mr Krishnan has visited the country many times and interviewed all the persons appeared in the photograph taken by Nick Ut during the war on June 8, in 1972 except Kim Phuc, the girl who ran aflame when the Napalm bombs struck the village.
Vinod Krishnan told DC that Phan Thanh Tam, brother of Kim Phuc was his friend who died recently. An anthropologist, Mr Krishnan is an associate programme coordinator at CREST. “I failed to meet Mr Ut earlier and was eagerly waiting for this moment”, he said. Kim’s brother Tam was very intimate friend of mine who died recently, Mr Krishnan said. Nick Ut also was happy to meet Vinod Kirshnan and inquired with him about the family members of Kim Phuc. “I hope in future I would be able to meet the girl who is Canada now”, said Mr Krishnan.
