Vietcong member turned into a martyr

According to Eddie Adams, this photograph was taken on February 1st, 1968, and shows General Nguyen Ngoc Loan shooting Nguyen Van Lem ("Bay Lap"), a member of the Vietcong. Adams admits that he "killed the general with my camera." The main purpose of the picture was to show the atrocity of the Vietnam War, but one glance at the picture without knowing the history causes the viewer's sympathies to be placed with the wrong individual. As Adams notes, "Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them; but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths." The picture makes a viewer see Lem as innocent, and unworthy of such a brutal death, but doesn't explain how Lem has been the cause of countless other deaths. Adams felt guilty after taking the picture, and realized that the picture had caused disgrace to Loan. Adams even mentions that he would have rather "been known more for the series of photographs I shot of 48 Vietnamese refugees who managed to sail to Thailand a 30-foot boat, only to be towed back to the open seas by Thai marines." He sees the pain that a picture can cause. Pictures dont always tell the a complete story, which as seen from this picture, can be disastrous

• Those protesting the Vietnam War
• This photograph should be printed on the cover of a major newspaper mainly because it shows the barbarous nature of the Vietnam War. This public display of an execution is both unnecessary and inhuman. Even if the man being killed was a brutal murderer, that doesn't change the fact that the man should be given a fair trial. He does have a wife, soon to be widow, that will be left in ruins once he is dead. The Vietnam War is an avoidable disaster and this picture proves it.
  

• The US government in support of the Vietnam War
• This photograph should not be printed on the cover of a major newspaper because so many civilians will see it and view the government as less professional. We want to be viewed as taking care of things in an orderly and efficient way, and this picture does not show it. If civilians saw this, they may think we are unorganized and heartless.
  

• Eddie Adams in 1969
• This photograph should be printed. Although it doesn't tell the important details and truth of the history of Lam, it brings up an important point about photography. That is, that it has to be taken with a grain of salt. This is just like any other form of communication, whether it be media, newspaper articles, magazine advertisements, etc. This photograph stresses that you can't trust something without getting the whole story. Even though this photograph took away from Nyugen Ngoc Loan's respect, it teaches an important lesson of trust.
  

• Nyugen Ngoc Loan (man doing the execution)
• This photograph should not be printed for the sake of Nyugen Ngoc Loan's decency. This photograph is degrading to him, and makes him look less honorable for shooting a man who would be intitially considered innocent by viewers. Loan's family and friends would look at this picture and see a different man than the one they come in contact with. They would see a hostile and spontaneous man. When in reality, Loan was probably logical and reasoned. This photograph would serve no any other purpose to Loan than to humiliate him.
  

• Nguyen Van Lam's widow (widow of the man being executed)
• This photograph should not be printed. A widow does not need more reminders that her husband was involved in a the communist group, the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam. What wife would want to see her husbands face right before he died? This photograph would only bring back devastating memories. When a loved one dies, pictures of that person in a happy state are most comforting. This widow would already think about her deceased husband everyday, and why would it be worth it to remind her of the negative aspects of his life?
  

• A publisher who must decide if this picture should appear in a fifth grade history book (assume that the photo has now appeared in the newspaper and has won the Pulitzer Prize)
• This photograph should not appear in a fifth grade history book, unless it told the true story behind it. Fifth graders are strongly influenced by photographs, and would get the wrong impression from the picture. Automatically, they would assume that the man shot was unworthy of dying, and may not be able to take another side and thing abstractly about the event.