US photographer publishes pictures of Vietnam’s war kids then and now
Saturday, March 07, 2015, 15:21 GMT+7
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| A photo taken by U.S. medic/photographer Bob Shirley in 1969 captures American soldiers and a group of Vietnamese children. |
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| American photographer Reed Young. |
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| Diem (left), 9, who was tasked with bringing cooked rice to staff at a coke store near an American military base, is seen in Shirley's 1969 photo shoot. |
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| Today's Diem is seen in this picture taken by Young at his home in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, where his family runs a hair salon. |
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| Shirley's 1969 photo captures Tuan (right), who would fetch food and medicine from American soldiers. His mother got wounded during the war. |
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| Today's Tuan (right), a cancer survivor, is shown at his home in this photo by Young. He told Young that he had no idea Shirley took pictures of him and his peers and he is deeply moved seeing the photos. |
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| Sa, 10, and her brother, Loc, who were temporarily taken care of by American soldiers, are seen in one of Shirley’s 1969 photos. The kids’ mother was bitten by a snake and taken on board a helicopter to an American military hospital for medical care. After a 3-month wait, Sa’s mother returned safe and sound to her, her father, and seven siblings. |
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| Today's Sa and her husband own a “thanh long” (dragon fruit) farm near Phan Thiet City in the south-central province of Binh Thuan. She is pictured lying amidst her dragon fruit fields in this photo taken by Young. |
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| The (right), 8, was captured by Shirley in his photo shoot in 1969. |
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| Today's The, who is now a farmer and lives with his wife and three children, is portrayed in Young's photo. After coming across a flyer searching for the kids back then, The, who has a photographic memory, helped Young and his friend, Johns, locate 16 of the children Shirley had photographed in 1969. |
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| Truong, Thanh, Cuong (third, fourth, and fifth from left) are seen in one of Shirley's 1969 photos. |
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| Today's Truong is seen in one of Young's photos. He is living in Phan Thiet City in the south-central province of Binh Thuan with his wife and their six children. |
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| Today's Thanh (left) and Cuong, as seen in Young's photo, are both happily married with children and live in Vung Tau City, some 100 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City. |
