Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/07/21

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: RE: [Leica] Re: Nick Ut's Napalm girl - Vietnamese names
From: Bob Adler <rgacpa@pacbell.net>
Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 07:42:33 -0700 (PDT)

Thank you, Mr. Phong, for a very interesting post!
Bob
- --- Phong <phong@doan-ltd.com> wrote:
> > Mr. Ut (whose real last name is ironically enough
> either
> > "Kong" or "Cong" I forget which).
> 
> His name is Huynh Cong Ut, and he was hired by Horst
> Faas
> at AP whe he was 15 years old.  In the Vietnamese
> style,
> the family name (Huynh, actually Huynh Cong) comes
> first,
> though it is correct to call him Mr Ut (given name).
> For example, the late South Vietnam President Nguyen
> Van Thieu
> was called President Thieu (given name); likewise
> General
> Vo Nguyen Giap is called General Giap (also given
> name).  Only
> in case of extreme reverence should one use the last
> name:
> The North Vietnamese affectionately called Ho Chi
> Minh
> Uncle Ho.
> 
> The practice of using an western first name together
> with
> the Vietname given name was common among people who
> work
> with Americans (and French, before that) in Vietnam,
> during
> the war.  In contrast, overseas Vietnamese would use
> a
> western first name with the family name (e.g. Nick
> Huynh,
> instead of Nick Ut).
> 
> Huynh Cong is the name of an important family in
> South Vietnam,
> that settled in the Can Tho, Long Xuyen areas in the
> Mekong Delta.
> My family has many ties with that family, though I
> don't know
> if we are related to Mr Ut.
> 
> Incidentally, Ut means "last child", identifying him
> as the
> cadet in the family.  He had an older brother, Huynh
> Cong La
> (though he changed his name to Huynh Thanh My), who
> was a war
> photographer for AP, and who was wounded then killed
> in 1965,
> when the Viet Cong overran the unit he was working
> with.  Ut was
> 14 at the time.
> 
> My full Vietnamese name is Doan huu Phong, and in
> the Vietnamese
> style, you would call me Mr Phong.  You may call me
> Mr Doan if
> you revere me that much :-)
> 
> - Phong
> Phong Doan since 1995.  Previously Doan huu Phong
> 
> NO ARCHIVE
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> > [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On
> Behalf Of Gary
> > Williams
> > Sent: Sunday, July 20, 2003 11:19 PM
> > To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> > Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: Nick Ut's Napalm girl
> >
> >
> >
> > > I read an interview of Nick Ut, and I recall
> that he said that he used a
> > Nikon.
> > >
> > > regards,
> > > frank
> >
> > In the 1960's the AP issued Nikons to its
> photographers, however many went
> > out and bought Leicas on their own, including Mr.
> Ut (whose real last name
> > is ironically enough either "Kong" or "Cong" I
> forget which).  I believe
> > that the M2 and Summicron lens used for the photo
> are on exhibition in
> > London.  Can anyone from the UK confirm this?
> >
> > Gary
> 
> 
> --
> To unsubscribe, see
http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html


=====
Bob Adler
Palo Alto, CA
rgacpa@pacbell.net
- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html