Saigon Execution: Traces Of A Photo That Underlies Vietnam's War Atrocities

Saigon Execution, a photo of the shooting on the spot carried out by the Nguyen Ngoc Loan Police Chief to one of the commanders of Viet Cong, Bay Lop in the Vietnam War. (Eddie Adams/AP)

JAKARTA - The Vietnam war is difficult to erase in world history. The war not only brings together the western bloc and the eastern bloc, but also represents the battle of two strong ideas in the world: capitalism and communism.

South Vietnam is supported by the United States (US). North Vietnam is supported by the Soviet Union. The effects of war are everywhere. Deaths from both sides fell. At first, the world did not understand the security of Vietnam's war. However, Eddie Adams showed the world through his photo titled Saigon Execution.

Efforts to unite all of Vietnam are never easy. The Vietnamese people may be proud to be able to expel the French colonialists in 1945. Instead of independence bringing unity in Vietnam, in fact the independence hatchers divided the two countries into two: South Vietnam and North.

The two governments have different patterns. South Vietnam is leaning closer to the western bloc: United States. North Vietnam is leaning towards the Eastern bloc: the Soviet Union. Neither of them wanted to give in.

South Vietnam does not want all of Vietnam to become communists. Vice versa. This condition then created tensions to war. US combat units began arriving in the 1950s. The Soviet Union did not want to lose. They continue to supply their allies with funds and weapons.

The Vietnam war (1955-1975) also occurred. The US has placed half a million troops in Vietnam. The placement is believed to be a form of sympathy for fighting North Vietnamese troops and Viet Cong insurgents. The confidence of the governments of South Vietnam and the US to win also increased.

Problems arise. North Vietnam cannot be underestimated. The narrative can be seen from North Vietnam and the Viet Cong insurgents attacked Saigon South Vietnam's power center in 1968. Tet's attack, his name. Many of the troops from South Vietnam and the US became victims.

South Vietnam also refused defeat. Great force was used in combing opposing troops from Saigon City. The commander of the Viet Cong insurgent group in civilian clothes, Nguyen Van Lem alias Bay Lop, was arrested and taken to 252 Ngo Gia Tu Street District 10 on February 1, 1968.

There was waiting for the South Vietnam National Police Chief, Nguyen Ngoc Loan. baselessly for Ngoc Loan to issue a 38-caliber Smith & Wesson Bodyguard revolver and shoot Bay Lop dead. The shooting incident was witnessed by Associated Press (AP) photographer Eddie Adams. He also photographed the incident through the Leica M4 camera.

Several feet away stood Eddie Adams, an Associated Press photographer, looking at his viewfinder. In a black-and-white film, he captures the exact moment of the shot. The police chief, Brigadier General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, stood back to the camera, full right arm, loose left arm beside him.

The prisoner, Nguyen Van Lem, was a Vietcong fighter but was not wearing a uniform, only a plaid shirt and black shorts. His hands were handcuffed behind his back. Despite his 30s, he looked a little older than a boy. His face was wrinkled by a bullet collision," saidbully Astor in his article on The New York Times page entitled A Photo That Changed the Course of the Vietnam War (2018).

Eddie's camera shot made a photo of the shooting at Ngoc Loan's place in the world's famous Bay Lop. People know the photo under the name Saigon Execution. The resulting photo is not only an influential journalistic work, but also opens the world's eyes to war brutality.

Saigon Executionbak summarizes the entire Vietnam War series. Portraits of war pain are clearly seen in Eddie's shots. An image that makes the US unlucky. They are often described as the culprit of chaos in the world.

US narratives that often interfere and confuse problems in the world are the estuary. This condition was strengthened by the support of the US, which grew to South Vietnam. The US provides assistance to Vietnamese people to kill their own brothers.

Moreover, Ngoc Loan himself, the shooter was part of the US and South Vietnam. The shooting was proof that it was not only the communists who were cruel, but those who opposed Communism were not much different.

Perhaps the actions of Vietnamese insurgents, Viet Cong cannot be justified, but executions from close range are much more unjustified. Eddie's photo was then discussed everywhere. Photos of war atrocities became an important instrument that gave power to actions against War in the world.

Ballisticians say the image - later known as Saigon Execution - shows microseconds when a bullet penetrates the man's head. Photo of Nguyen Ngoc Loan shooting a Viet Cong prisoner by Eddie Adams is considered one of the most influential images of the Vietnam War.

At that time, the image was reprinted around the world and for many it became a symbol of brutality and war anarchism. It also evoked growing sentiment in the US about thesiege of fighting - that the war was unwinnable, "is written in a BBC website report entitled Addie Adams 'Iconic Vietnam War Photo: What Happened Next (2018).