Re: [Leica] Re: Nick Ut's Napalm girl - Vietnamese names

["Jack McLain" <jmclainaz@comcast.net>]

Very interesting...
I wish I had better understood things such as this way back when in 68-70'
(during my vacation to your country!)
Jack McLain
Tucson, AZ
http://jackmclain-photography.dotcommunity.net

- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Phong" <phong@doan-ltd.com>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Sunday, July 20, 2003 9:52 PM
Subject: RE: [Leica] Re: Nick Ut's Napalm girl - Vietnamese names


> > 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
>
>
> --
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