Found Her in a Morgue, Left for Dead-Kim Phuc Phan Ti – The Napalm Girl
From her story in the book Fire Road
During the era of the Vietnam War, I was in school (elementary through college). For a while I thought I would be drafted and serve in that war. I would have gone if called, as did some of my high school friends, but I knew enough about it to know I didn’t want to go. One of my neighbors, a young man 6 days older than I enlisted in the Marines and lost his life there when his helicopter was downed by enemy fire though flying with a Red Cross symbol on the chopper. Later, the army removed the crosses because it simply made a better target; plus, the enemy wanted the help coming for the wounded to not evacuate the soldiers, who may fight another day.
Do You Remember Seeing the Picture from the Vietnam War of “The Napalm Girl”?
In that war Kim Phuc (pronounced “fook”) was living peacefully with her family in a village in South Vietnam, when a South Vietnamese pilot dropped napalm bombs on the area where she was traveling. In her attempt to flee the bombing she and others she knew were on the road when the 4 napalm bombs exploded around them . She was severely burned over the back third of her body. Napalm clings to whatever it touches and continues to burn hotter and hotter. The more air – the more it burns. Her clothing was immediately burned from her body, so she ran naked and screaming down the road with no help in site.
Finally a soldier attempted to rescue her and poured water on her to cool the flame, but that simply made the napalm burn more. Her story is one of tragedy, as she was taken from a wonderful childhood and suddenly subjected to the ravages of war engulfing her family and her own little 8 year old body.
Her story gets much worse before it gets better due to separation from her family, then transported to a hospital where she was reckoned as dead and placed in a morgue. Only a miraculous discovery of sounds coming from her dying frame led to her being rescued from the morgue and getting medical attention. As I recall, her total number of very painful surgeries eventually numbered 19.
Kim Phuc lived to adulthood and through it all come to believe in the saving power of Jesus Christ. She is an outspoken Christian today and has ministries reaching hurting children in this world. She understands pain, fear, and the ultimate failure of the other “gods” she was led to worship and serve in her family’s religion. Her story is miraculous.
I know that I have only touched the surface of her life for you to consider, but here is a woman who could be bitter and angry at God and so many other people, but she has a relationship with the God Who delivered her from death to life – physically and spiritually. She was told during her childhood and young adult life that no one would want to have her as a wife because of the ugly scarring, but God turned that death declaration into a new life of love, marriage, and family.
What circumstances, if any, are holding you or me back from overcoming past pain, guilt, or sadness, so that Jesus Christ Who also endured horrible pain and rejection can set us free to love again? By God’s grace we can be saved, we can be free….free to love and give to others the love we’ve been given. No one lives a wrinkle-free life, some have more hardships than others, but God who is rich in mercy is ready to receive us, scars and pain and sin and all, and to love us into His forever family. Have you come to Him for forgiveness, mercy, and life?
I spoke with a man yesterday whose life is being changed by the story of Kim Phuc Phan Ti. He has been in and out of depression for some time, but now after reading her story, he is realizing that many people have had to endure hardship and pain. He certainly has, but he wants the rest of his life to count for the Lord Jesus. Long ago, this man’s life intersected with mine and helped set me on a course to find and love Jesus. I am grateful. Now, I pray that I can be used to help him continue his journey to freedom, purpose, and a faith-filled future.