Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Saigon Exectution- Nicole Miller

     Nguyen Van Lem was a commander of a death squad. On the day that this iconic picture was taken, the squad Lem commanded had targeted the Police Officers and their families. When Lem was captured, he was near 7 policer officer family member that he had murdered. Before Lem was shot in the head, he told the reporters "These guys killed a lot of people, and I think Buddha will forgive me." Lem had also murdered several civilians that same day.


South Vietnamese Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan, chief of the national police, shoots Vietcong officer Nguyen Van Lem, also known as Bay Lop, on a Saigon street on Feb. 1, 1968.
Lem as the bullet is going through his head. It is said that if you look close enough, you can see the bullet exiting his head.
The photographer who took this picture said it didn't come the way he wanted it too. In the picture, it looks like the bad guy is the guy with the gun, but in all actuality, Lem, them guy getting shot, was the one to blame.
  This picture had a big impact overall. It show how brutal war really was. The picture was used by the North Vietnamese for a propaganda tour.
   For Loan, the guy who is shooting Lem, this picture opened many doors for his enemies to attack him. He ended up being wounded in war and was sent home. When he was sent home, he had lot of trouble being allowed into the US because of the picture. Nobody understood what was actually going on, and this cause the general a lot of problems. In the end he actually ended up being allowed into the US.
http://rarehistoricalphotos.com/saigon-execution-murder-vietcong-saigon-1968/http://failuremag.com/feature/article/saigon_execution/
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6 comments:

  1. joe weingatesOctober 12, 2015 at 10:01 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Charlie SOctober 16, 2015 at 7:11 PM

    It's amazing to me, that if a picture was worth a thousand words, this picture would be a misunderstood story at first glance. When I saw the picture it gave me the impression of a murdered innocent. I think this is why it was used successfully by the North Vietnamese in a propaganda campaign.

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  3. DevonBeckOctober 18, 2015 at 9:20 PM

    I agree with Charlie. I would have thought the guy getting shot was the innocent one. I would not have thought of him as being the one that was murdering people.

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  4. AnonymousOctober 19, 2015 at 6:43 AM

    Looks can be deceiving. This picture is a good example that anything can be manipulated to fit a certain agenda. I

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  5. UnknownOctober 19, 2015 at 7:47 AM

    I'm with Charlie. Until now I realized that maybe I shouldn't feel as bad as the picture makes me. This picture also shows just how sly some governments can be to get the reaction out of their people that they want.

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  6. Brian HagemanOctober 19, 2015 at 9:55 AM

    When I first saw this photo I thought that the man holding the gun was killing an innocent person. It really shows how looks can truly be deceiving. I understand why the general felt the need to kill the man that murdered many innocent people. I don't think he should have been viewed in such a bad light for what he did. It relieved a lot of citizens in the area and pleased the families of the victims. Murder is obviously horrible, and I do think he should have handled the situation In a different manner.

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