Dear Editor,

Many remember the photo of a frightened naked girl running on a highway in Vietnam. This image which spoke of the horrors of the Vietnam War has appeared thousands of times throughout the entire media, especially on the television networks. That girl, Kin Phuc, now 37, is now an ambassador for UNESCO and manages a foundation which aids children who have become victims of war and violence.

Far away are the 17 operations that treated her napalm burns in 65 per cent of her diminutive body. Nick Ut, author of the 1973 Pulitzer Prize-winning image, took her to a polyclinic, thus helping to save her life. She was hospitalised for 14 months. Kin Phuc would faint every time the nurses placed her in a tub and cut off dead skin from her body. But she would survive to tell the tale. “Inside of me,” she says, “there was a strong little girl who wanted to live. I overcame everything thanks to the love of my family and of God.”

One of the lessons learnt from this experience has been to ask for forgiveness. When she first read Jesus’ words to love your enemies, she did not know how to do it. She thought it would be impossible. “I had to pray a lot and it was not easy. But in the end I did it.”

In 1996 she met one of the pilots who had participated in the bombing of her town. She forgave him because she believes forgiveness is stronger than any weapon in the world. She is convinced that her life is a symbol of forgiveness and hope. Forgiveness ennobles the spirit.

One forgives just as much as one loves. On the contrary, vengeance gets rid of peace. According to In the Solitude of Silence, forgiveness, the magnanimity and oblivion of offences, are the best ways to live in peace.(Translated by Gianna Alessandra Snchez Moretti.)

Clemente Ferrer

clementeferrer3@gmail.com