Nothing is what it seems...

- General Nguyen Ngoc Loan Executing a Viet Cong Prisoner in Saigon -

When I first saw this photograph, my first impression was that the man holding the gun is a maniacal dictator S.O.B who executes innocent people simply because he has the power to do so. Merely by looking at the picture, I felt hatred and disgust towards him, with his superior posture - probably thinking that he is God, holding the fate of the man on the other side of the gun.

As I look at the other man, I felt utter sympathy – his fate is sealed; he definitely won’t see the light of day after this photograph was taken. With his eyes closed; his face shows nothing but fear and horror of his imminent doom.

And as I was browsing through the net for more information about the photograph, I found out that it was taken in Saigon by an American photographer, Eddie Adams on 1 February 1968 - during the Vietnam War. The man holding the gun was identified as the South Vietnamese National Police Chief Nguyễn Ngọc Loan and the man he is executing is a Viet Cong officer, recognized as Nguyễn Văn Lém.

Although the photograph won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography and a World Press Photo, to my surprise, I found out that Mr. Adams had this to say about his award-winning photograph:

“The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them, but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths ... What the photograph didn't say was, 'What would you do if you were the general at that time and place on that hot day, and you caught the so-called bad guy after he blew away one, two or three American soldiers”

Evidently Mr. Adams regretted taking the photograph – he even apologized to the 'executioner' for ‘giving birth’ to the photograph and destroying his reputation. After going through materials relating to the photograph, I knew why Mr. Adams did so.

It appears that at the time the photograph was taken, General Loan was the Chief of Police and the man executed was the leader of a Viet Cong assassination squad tasked with assassinating not just South Vietnamese police officers, but also members of their entire family.

Just before the execution was immortalized in the photograph, Nguyen Van Lem was apprehended near a site of a ditch holding as many as thirty-four bound and shot bodies of police officers, their wives and their children - some of whom were the families of General Loan's deputy and close friend.

As I was reading about the truth behind the photograph, my view shifted – I no longer felt sorry for the man to be executed... I began to despise him to the extent that I think he deserved to die. As for the General, I felt sheer sadness towards him… for a man to discover a grave, filled with his fellow police officers, who were killed merely because they were carrying out their duties.

I then considered what Mr. Adams said – what would I do in such circumstances; if I was in the middle of a war and I hadjust caught the man responsible for the killing of my friends, their wives, their children… what would I do at that particular time?

As I was pondering the question, I just couldn’t find a definite answer – although I am clear about what I believe in, I understood why the General did what he did – I even tried to justify his actions.

Alas the story did not end there, after the Fall of Saigon in 1975, General Loan fled South Vietnam, with the purpose of a fresh start in the United States. He briefly opened and operated a pizza outlet in Washington D.C. but his identity as a ruthless executioner was publicly disclosed. He eventually died of cancer on 14 July 1998 and Mr. Adams had this to say in memory of General Loan:

"The guy was a hero. America should be crying. I just hate to see him go this way, without people knowing anything about him."

“NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS”…. Regrettably the life of a good man was ruined for the world to learn the meaning it brings…