The Vietnam War had been raging for years. On June 8, 1972, a single photo communicated the horrors of the fighting in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of the most divisive conflicts in American history. Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut heard the little girl's screams and couldn't turn away. In the time of film and darkrooms, the 21-year-old Vietnamese photographer didn't know the power of the image he had just taken, but he knew what he had to do. He drove the badly burned child to a small hospital. There, he was told she was too far gone to help. But Nick flashed his American press badge, demanded that doctors treat the girl and left assured that she would not be forgotten. In the Pulitzer Prize-winning image, children run screaming from a burning Vietnamese village. The little girl in the center of the frame, Kim Phuc, is naked and crying, her clothes and layers of skin melted away by napalm. "I cried when I saw her running," said Ut, whose older brother was killed on assignment with the AP in the southern Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Now, four decades later, Nick Ut and Kim Phuc remain close. "I knew in my dream that one day Uncle Ut could help me to have freedom," said Phuc, referring to him by an affectionate Vietnamese term. "Most of the people, they know my picture, but there's very few that know about my life," Kim Phuc said. "I'm so thankful that ... I can accept the picture as a powerful gift. Then it is my choice. Then I can work with it for peace." "Today, I'm so happy I helped Kim," said Ut, who still works for AP and recently returned to Trang Bang village. "I call her my daughter." ____ Here are more photos taken by Nick Ut of the Vietnam War, and images of Ut and Kim Phuc reunited years later. ____ Join AP today at 2 p.m. EDT for a live Facebook chat with photographer Nick Ut: http://apne.ws/MjLG1j
AP Photos: Iconic 'napalm girl' photo turns 40
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FILE- In this June 1970 file photo, taken by Associated Press photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut, south Vietnamese Marines rush to the point where descending U.S. Army helicopter will pick them up after a sweep east of the Cambodian town of Prey-Veng during the Vietnam War. It only took a second for Associated Press Photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc after a napalm attack in 1972, but it communicated the horrors of the Vietnam War in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of America's darkest eras. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
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FILE- In this early 1968 file photo, taken by Associated Press photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut, journalists photograph a body in the Saigon area in early 1968, during the Tet Offensive. It only took a second for Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc after a napalm attack in 1972, but it communicated the horrors of the Vietnam War in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of America's darkest eras. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
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FILE- In this early 1968 file photo taken by Associated Press photographer, Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut, the body of a man lies beside a road in the Saigon area of Vietnam during the Tet Offensive. It only took a second for Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc after a napalm attack in 1972, but it communicated the horrors of the Vietnam War in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of America's darkest eras. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
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FILE- In this April 6, 1969, file photo, taken by Associated Press Photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut, youthful civil defense militiamen leap into the flooded Nipa Palm grove near Saigon, Vietnam. It only took a second for Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc after a napalm attack in 1972, but it communicated the horrors of the Vietnam War in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of America's darkest eras. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
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FILE- In this May 8, 1970, file photo taken by Associated Press photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut, a South Vietnamese tank crew abandons tank after it was hit by B40 rockets and automatic weapons two miles north of Svay Rieng in eastern Cambodia. It only took a second for Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc after a napalm attack in 1972, but it communicated the horrors of the Vietnam War in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of America's darkest eras. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
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FILE-This Sept. 20, 1970, file photo taken by Associated Press photographer, Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut, shows a Cambodian soldier on an operation in Vietnam. It only took a second for Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc after a napalm attack in 1972, but it communicated the horrors of the Vietnam War in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of America's darkest eras. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
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FILE - In this June 8, 1972 file photo taken by Associated Press photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut, a Skyraider, a propeller driven plane of the Vietnamese Airforce (VNAF) 518th Squadron, drops one bomb with incendiary napalm and white phosphorus jelly over Trang Bang village. It only took a second for Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image of 9-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phuc, one of the victims of the napalm attack in 1972, but it communicated the horrors of the Vietnam War in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of America's darkest eras. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
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FILE - This June 8, 1972 file photo taken by Associated Press photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut, shows bombs with a mixture of napalm and white phosphorus jelly dropped by Vietnamese Air Force Skyraider bombers explode across Route 1, amidst homes and in front of the Cao Dai temple on the outskirts of Trang Bang, Vietnam. It only took a second for Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc after a napalm attack in 1972, but it communicated the horrors of the Vietnam War in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of America's darkest eras. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
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FILE - In this June 8, 1972 file photo taken by Associated Press photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut, a Vietnamese grandmother carries her severely burned one-year-old grandson down Route 1 after a misdirected napalm attack by South Vietnamese pilots in the village of Trang Bang, South Vietnam. The napalm attack was intended for enemy forces on the outskirts of the village. It only took a second for Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image of another victim of the attack, Phan Thi Kim Phuc, but it communicated the horrors of the Vietnam War in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of America's darkest eras. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
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FILE - In this June 8, 1972 file photo taken by Associated Press photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut, a Vietnamese man and woman carry severely burned children down Route 1 after a misdirected napalm attack by South Vietnamese pilots in the village of Trang Bang, South Vietnam. The aerial attack was intended for enemy forces on the outskirts of the village. It only took a second for Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc after a napalm attack in 1972, but it communicated the horrors of the Vietnam War in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of America's darkest eras. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
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FILE - In this June 8, 1972 file photo, crying children, including 9-year-old Kim Phuc, center, run down Route 1 near Trang Bang, Vietnam after an aerial napalm attack on suspected Viet Cong hiding places as South Vietnamese forces from the 25th Division walk behind them. A South Vietnamese plane accidentally dropped its flaming napalm on South Vietnamese troops and civilians. From left, the children are Phan Thanh Tam, younger brother of Kim Phuc, who lost an eye, Phan Thanh Phouc, youngest brother of Kim Phuc, Kim Phuc, and Kim's cousins Ho Van Bon, and Ho Thi Ting. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
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FILE - In this June 8, 1972 file photo taken by Associated Press photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut, Television crews and South Vietnamese troops surround 9-year-old Kim Phuc on Route 1 near Trang Bang, South Vietnam, after she was burned by a misdirected aerial napalm attack. A South Vietnamese plane targeting suspected Viet Cong positions dropped its flaming napalm on the civilian village. It only took a second for Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc running down the road after a napalm attack in 1972, but it communicated the horrors of the Vietnam War in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of America's darkest eras. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
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FILE - In this June 10, 1972 file photo, Phan Tai Kim Phuc, 9, is comforted by her mother in a Saigon, Vietnam hospital, two days after she was severely burned during a misplaced napalm attack on her village. It only took a second for Associated Press Photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc after a napalm attack in 1972, but it communicated the horrors of the Vietnam War in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of America's darkest eras. (AP Photo/Robinson, File)
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FILE - In this 1973 file photo, Phan Thi Kim Phuc, left, is visited by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut at her home in Trang Bang, Vietnam. As a nine-year-old, Kim Phuc was the subject of a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo by Ut as she fled in pain from a misdirected napalm attack against her village by South Vietnamese planes in 1972. After taking the photograph, Ut came to the girl's aid and transported her to a hospital. (AP Photo/File)
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FILE - In this Aug. 17, 1989 file photo, Phan Thi Kim Phuc embraces Associated Press staff photographer Nick Ut during a reunion in Havana, Cuba. It only took a second for Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc after a napalm attack in 1972, but it communicated the horrors of the Vietnam War in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of America's darkest eras. (AP Photo/Jim Caccavo, File)
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FILE- In this Sunday, June 3, 2012, file photo, Associated Press staff photographer Nick Ut shows his famous photograph of the "Napalm Girl" at Liberty Baptist Church in Newport Beach, Calif. It only took a second for Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc after a napalm attack in 1972, but it communicated the horrors of the Vietnam War in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of America's darkest eras. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
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FILE- In this June 2, 2012, file photo, Phan Thi Kim Phuc, right, hugs Associated Press staff photographer Nick Ut during a reunion in Buena Park, Calif. It only took a second for Ut to snap the iconic black-and-white image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc after a napalm attack in 1972, but it communicated the horrors of the Vietnam War in a way words could never describe, helping to end one of America's darkest eras. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
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FILE - In this June 8, 1972 file photo, crying children, including 9-year-old Kim Phuc, center, run down Route 1 near Trang Bang, Vietnam after an aerial napalm attack on suspected Viet Cong hiding places as South Vietnamese forces from the 25th Division walk behind them. A South Vietnamese plane accidentally dropped its flaming napalm on South Vietnamese troops and civilians. From left, the children are Phan Thanh Tam, younger brother of Kim Phuc, who lost an eye, Phan Thanh Phouc, youngest brother of Kim Phuc, Kim Phuc, and Kim's cousins Ho Van Bon, and Ho Thi Ting. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
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