People ask me a lot, 'How can you smile all the time?' I tell them, 'I was never angry. God created me this way. He created me laughing and smiling.'

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

There's such a connection between Vietnam and America, but it should be one of friendship. Not bitterness. Not enemies.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

When I meet children and people who suffer, when they mention any kind of pain, emotional pain, physical pain, I know what they need, because it's the same thing I need. They need healing, they need peace, they need joy, they need hope.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

For years I bore the crippling weight of anger, bitterness and resentment toward those who caused my suffering. Yet as I look back over a spiritual journey that has spanned more than three decades, I realize the same bombs that caused so much pain and suffering also brought me to a place of great healing. Those bombs led me to Jesus Christ.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

I went through 17 operations. I had to deal with the pain every single day. I used to compare my scars with buffalo skin. And because my skin wasn't have any pores, I cannot sweat, make me feel so tired, so headache.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

I asked why me? Why did I have to suffer so much pain and scars? I was just a little girl - I didn't do anything wrong.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

The more I travel the more I see and know what people need. They need peace, they need joy and they need love.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

My own people, the South Vietnamese, had been bombing trade routes used by the Viet Cong rebels. I had not been targeted, of course. I had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

If I ever see those pilots who dropped the bombs on me - or any American pilots - I would say to them, 'The war is over. The past is past.' I would ask those pilots what can they do to bring us all together.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

I know what it is like to experience terror, to feel despondent, to live in fear. I know how wearying and hopeless life can be sometimes.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

Having known war I know the value of peace. Having lived under government control I know the value of freedom. Having lived with hatred, terror and corruption I know the value of faith and forgiveness.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

I wished I died in that attack with my cousin, with my south Vietnamese soldiers. I wish I died at that time so I won't suffer like that anymore... it was so hard for me to carry all that burden with that hatred, with that anger and bitterness.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

The more I prayed for my enemies, the softer my heart became.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

My name is Kim Phuc, though you likely know me by another name. It is one I never asked for, a name I have spent a lifetime trying to escape: 'Napalm Girl.'

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

Yet I was ready for love and joy. I wanted to let go of my pain. I wanted to pursue life instead of holding fast to fantasies of death.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

Even if I could talk face to face with the pilot who dropped the bombs I would tell him, 'We cannot change history, but we should try to do good things for the present and for the future to promote peace.'

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

Behind that picture of me, thousands and thousands of people, they suffered - more than me. They died. They lost parts of their bodies. Their whole lives were destroyed, and nobody took that picture.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

Sometimes I could not breathe, but God saved my life and gave me faith and hope.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

I remember June 8, 1972. I saw the airplane. And it's so loud, so close to me. Suddenly, the fire everywhere around me. The fire burned off my clothes. And I saw my arm got burned with the fire. I thought, oh, my goodness, I get burned. People will see me different way.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

Nine years old, I became the victim of war. I didn't like that picture at all. I felt like, why he took my picture, when I was agony, naked, so ugly? I wished that picture wasn't taken.

Phan Thi Kim Phuc

Phan Thi Kim Phuc Quotes

People ask me a lot, 'How can you smile all the time?' I tell them, 'I was never angry. God created me this way. He created me laughing and smiling.'

There's such a connection between Vietnam and America, but it should be one of friendship. Not bitterness. Not enemies.

When I meet children and people who suffer, when they mention any kind of pain, emotional pain, physical pain, I know what they need, because it's the same thing I need. They need healing, they need peace, they need joy, they need hope.

I went through 17 operations. I had to deal with the pain every single day. I used to compare my scars with buffalo skin. And because my skin wasn't have any pores, I cannot sweat, make me feel so tired, so headache.

I asked why me? Why did I have to suffer so much pain and scars? I was just a little girl - I didn't do anything wrong.

The more I travel the more I see and know what people need. They need peace, they need joy and they need love.

My own people, the South Vietnamese, had been bombing trade routes used by the Viet Cong rebels. I had not been targeted, of course. I had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

If I ever see those pilots who dropped the bombs on me - or any American pilots - I would say to them, 'The war is over. The past is past.' I would ask those pilots what can they do to bring us all together.

I know what it is like to experience terror, to feel despondent, to live in fear. I know how wearying and hopeless life can be sometimes.

Having known war I know the value of peace. Having lived under government control I know the value of freedom. Having lived with hatred, terror and corruption I know the value of faith and forgiveness.

I wished I died in that attack with my cousin, with my south Vietnamese soldiers. I wish I died at that time so I won't suffer like that anymore... it was so hard for me to carry all that burden with that hatred, with that anger and bitterness.

The more I prayed for my enemies, the softer my heart became.

My name is Kim Phuc, though you likely know me by another name. It is one I never asked for, a name I have spent a lifetime trying to escape: 'Napalm Girl.'

Yet I was ready for love and joy. I wanted to let go of my pain. I wanted to pursue life instead of holding fast to fantasies of death.

Even if I could talk face to face with the pilot who dropped the bombs I would tell him, 'We cannot change history, but we should try to do good things for the present and for the future to promote peace.'

Behind that picture of me, thousands and thousands of people, they suffered - more than me. They died. They lost parts of their bodies. Their whole lives were destroyed, and nobody took that picture.

Sometimes I could not breathe, but God saved my life and gave me faith and hope.

I remember June 8, 1972. I saw the airplane. And it's so loud, so close to me. Suddenly, the fire everywhere around me. The fire burned off my clothes. And I saw my arm got burned with the fire. I thought, oh, my goodness, I get burned. People will see me different way.

Nine years old, I became the victim of war. I didn't like that picture at all. I felt like, why he took my picture, when I was agony, naked, so ugly? I wished that picture wasn't taken.