
Image source, Getty Images
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- Author, Writing
- Author's title, BBC News World*
That was the year of Tet's offensive, one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War that marked the beginning of the end of the war -fought war between the communist Vietnam of the North (supported by China and Russia) and the anti -communist Vietnam of the South (mostly backed by the US).
American soldiers began arriving in Vietnam in huge numbers, despite the growing protests against war in the North American country.
Agitation and chaos reigned in Saigon -today Ho Chi Minh -the capital of South Vietnam
And in the midst of those streets destroyed by war, a child of just 12 years ran determined and without fear of danger.
Image source, AP
It was the Manh Hung – or “Jimmy”, the boy who photographed the Vietnam War – and, almost with certainty, we can say that he was the youngest war photographer in the world.
“He could photograph anything. Nothing scared him. He took photos that are truly exceptional,” says his sister Quyen.
“Everything revolved around achieving the photo, not thinking about his own life,” says another of his brothers.
Jimmy lived then in Saigon with his parents and his brothers. And, now, for the first time, they decided to tell their story to the BBC.
Following the footsteps of his father
When Jimmy was born, his country was already at war. His father, Vinh was a war photojournalist freelance. Jimmy followed his steps, accompanying him to the battlefield and occasionally his brothers as well.
Image source, Getty Images
“Jimmy loved to take pictures and was very risky. In Saigon, if something happened, as when a bomb exploded, he took his camera, climbed to the motorcycle, and ran out to take images,” his brother Richard tells the BBC.
“He ran there before anyone else. No other reporter dared to arrive first. Even emergency services could not arrive on time.”
Richard recalls that Jimmy was a photographer “expert, fast and sharp, more agile and more experienced (than his younger brothers).”
Image source, Getty Images
Jimmy was passionate about what he was doing and began to leave more and more on his own. His intrepidity and talent allowed him to capture shocking images of the front line, which he later sold to all kinds of international publications.
Despite the brutality of war, his brother Vincent recalls that “Jimmy was a cheerful child,” with an adventurous spirit.
The advantages- and disadvantages- to be so young
Sometimes, because of his young age, Jimmy ended up in jail. When they saw him wandering the streets after the curfew, the police distrusted his press credentials.
However, it was precisely the being so young that allowed him to develop a good relationship with the soldiers and obtain a unique access that other photographers had.
Image source, Vincent Ly
Image source, AP
“He said that the soldiers were curious, that they approached, chatted and joked,” he tells BBC Thomas, another of his brothers.
But it was evident that, during the war, Jimmy felt a great responsibility to sustain his family, a reality that increased even more when he became his main support.
“Of course our parents were worried. He was the eldest son and if something happened to him, it would have been a big problem,” says Richard.
“When our father was injured in a motorcycle accident, and could not work, and there were so many children to take care of, Jimmy, as the eldest son, had to take care of keeping the family,” he adds.
Image source, Getty Images
Richard says his parents cared for Jimmy frequently, because he disappeared and did not return home for days.
“Jimmy dressed like a soldier and got into nobody knows how in helicopters with them. He told them he was a journalist and they let him stay.”
The photo of the helicopter
There is a famous photo that could have taken Jimmy where you see a helicopter surrounded by people, but the BBC could not verify its authorship. His brothers explain that he was there that day, in the middle of chaos, when several of the aircraft took off.
“At that time, that photo showed what people were living. A helicopter landed during the battle of An Loc. People were terrified. An Loc was under place for days, many soldiers were injured, familiar and desperate civilians tried to get on the helicopter to escape and evacuate an loc,” says Richard.
Image source, AP
It was a matter of life or death. The helicopter could carry a few dozen people, but the crowd that surrounded him was huge.
“Jimmy followed the crowd – they were hidden for three or four days. And when the time came to leave them. He told us that when the helicopters landed, the Viet Cong (the North Guerrillas that operated in South Vietnam) fired artillery fire, rockets and bullet rains on the track, so these photos are incredibly significant,” Richard explains.
“You can see civilians climbing on board, also wounded soldiers. Jimmy said that after taking the photo, he had to climb and stand on the back of the helicopter. It was very dangerous. Many people fell and died right there. Those scenes had to be terrifying … probably the most dangerous. This photo is incredible. That's why I feel so significant for us.”
Danger
While Jimmy and his father were photographers, the entire operation was definitely a family issue.
“After taking photos, (Jimmy) brought the rolls to the house, and my mom (lying your lan) revealed them in the dark room. Then I processed the images,” Richard recalls.
“I also helped my mother. We frequently worked late at night, until 10:00 pm or even midnight, the morning, I took the photos to the newspapers.”
Image source, Vincent Ly
And although everyone collaborated, the danger in which Jimmy lived was very real. Eventually, the inevitable happened when his family's fears materialized in part.
“My brother was shot with an AK47 on one arm, he was bleeding and bandaged,” says Thomas, referring to the moment they wounded him when he was close to the front line,
Jimmy recovered, but this incident did not make him abandon his passion for photographing the war and returned to work immediately.
A few years later, in 1972, he was injured again.
“During the battle of Quang Tri, he was reached again, this time by artillery fire. A sparge cut his ear, damaged his ear and Jimmy ended up in the hospital,” says Richard.
Even after this last episode, Jimmy continued to take photographs until the end of the war.
New life
But when the last American troops retired in 1973, it was already only a matter of time until the fence closed on South Vietnam.
Two years later, the Norvietnamese took Saigon. Many South Vietnamese fled, including Jimmy and his brothers.
“The Viet Cong was coming, surrounding people in Saigon. Jimmy said that if we wanted to leave the country, we had to find a ship to escape the US,” Thomas tells the BBC.
Amid the confusion that was lived in the city, they left. But they didn't all go together and had to spend good time until they met again, fortunately, in a refugee camp on Guam Island.
“Suddenly, I heard Jimmy shout in Vietnamese 'Nam, Nam!'
“We had been separated from Saigon and this moment was completely unexpected. Three brothers met again. A true surprise, because in a camp of hundreds of thousands of people we suddenly met. From that moment we stayed together full of joy. That was the most exciting moment of all.”
Image source, Vincent Ly
Like his brothers who finally found refuge in countries such as China, the US and Australia, Jimmy ended in California, where he developed a quiet life, compared to their first decades.
“When we arrived in the US, we still talked about so much, but he felt a certain melancholy. Everything was kept for himself. The past was the past and never talked about the old days,” recalls Thomas.
“He loved being a photojournalist, but in the US had no connections with the western press, things were not like in Vietnam. In Vietnam they all knew him, but here I think he felt a little sad.
“He still loved his profession and continued dedicating himself to her until the end.
“Wherever it was, I always wore a camera, ready to take photos, either for fun or work. If I saw something interesting, I portrayed it.”
Image source, Cindy Vong
Return
Jimmy married, formed a family, and eventually found a path to his first love: photography.
“When he saved enough money, he created his own laboratory and photography business,” says Thomas.
Image source, Cindy Vong
And in recent years, he also returned to Vietnam. It was on that same trip, just a week later (in 2018) that Jimmy died from a heart failure.
His legacy goes beyond being one of the youngest photographers in the world: he is in his talent to take photographs, which helped attract the world's attention to the Vietnam War.
But his other legacy is more intimate and no less important: he was a vital pillar in the survival history of his own family.
*This article is an adaptation of the video of BBC Reelsproduced and narrated by Howard Timberlake and edited by Tom Heyden.
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