Overview
Since the dawn of man fire has been an integral part of his life. Used initially to bring warmth and to cook his food, fire quickly took hold as man’s go to way of waging war. Jumping forward to the age of the Greeks, they began to use a new type of fire known as Greek (Sticky) Fire to great effect. This type of weapon was improved upon for centuries until the modern age when it a new type of stick fire was invented: napalm. Napalm consists of a gelling agent and a volatile agent that when mixed together burns at thousands of degrees while sticking to whatever is unfortunate to be hit by it. Napalm was one of the the most iconic, successful, and controversial weapons used in Vietnam.
Item 1: USAF Napalm Raid
The picture above was taken by a US Air Force member during a napalm bombing operation in 1965. The location of this bombing was a Vietcong camp just south of Saigon in the Republic of Vietnam. As you can see, the napalm bomb dropped on this compound absolutely destroyed the intended target. If anyone was inside of the that building, it is safe to say that they’re no longer alive. This photo shows how destructive a napalm bombing run is and the reason why the US used it extensively in Vietnam.
Item 2: The Trang Bang Photo
This black and white image above is one of the most famous photos ever taken during the Vietnam War and potentially the most famous photo of the 20th century. Center-left is a 9 year old girl by the name of Phan Thi Kim Phuc. During a raid on her home village of Trang Bang in 1972 she was severely burned by a napalm strike that came from The Republic of Vietnam Air Force that mistook her group for Vietcong soldiers. Photographer Nick Ut took this now infamous photo of her running through a street naked with third-degree burns to her entire back. There are no words to explain why this image is important, it speaks for itself.
Item 3: Napalm V
The painting above is named Napalm V. The artist was a man by the name of Leon Golub who was appalled at what was going on in Vietnam. As a form of resistance, he painted his two series of paintings, Vietnam and Napalm respectively. Napalm V consists of two people, either civilians or troops, covered in burns and trying to help each other with the pain. Both of them are painted in such a way that it is highly unsettling to the viewer and to convey a message of the horrors of napalm and the war in Vietnam in general. This painting is important due to the fact that it was painted by a guy who saw the horrors and Vietnam and decided to make a statement about them.
Citations
Napalm bombs explode on Viet Cong structures south of Saigon in the Republic of Vietnam; 1965; Photographs Relating to the Administration, Family, and Personal Life of Harry S. Truman, 1957-2004; Records of U.S. Air Force Commands, Activities, and Organizations, Record Group 342; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/napalm-bombs-explode-structures, December 10, 2019]
Leon Golub, Napalm V, 1969, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Edith S. and Arthur J. Levin, 2005.5.35
Archive Project 