According to whistleblower Carl Robinson, he was instructed by Horst Faas to credit the Terror of War photograph to Nick Ut instead of Nguyen Thanh Nghe. Several motives have been suggested: Ut was an Associated Press employee while Nguyen was a freelancer; Ut's older brother had been killed on assignment for AP and Faas may have seen this as a form of restitution; and, as Faas himself claimed, there was bias against "foreign-sounding" names - perhaps why Huynh Cong Ut became "Nick Ut."
The documentary's 3D reconstruction of the events at Trang Bang on 8 June 1972 makes one thing clear: Nick Ut could not have been in position to take that iconic photograph unless he had sprinted back and forth with superhuman speed while carrying heavy gear. In light of these findings, World Press has suspended its attribution to Ut due to credible doubt. Associated Press, meanwhile, stands by its position, saying the evidence is insufficient to prove that Nguyen - not Ut - made the image.
But what is journalism, if not an act of fidelity to truth? Photojournalists like Faas, Ut, and Nguyen were there to document history as it unfolded. Misattributing authorship erodes the very truth their profession is meant to safeguard. Perhaps this saga highlights how susceptible truth is to the distortions of human behaviour - ambition, bias, sentiment, ego.
And as for Ut: at 21, he was young, sharp, and fully aware whether he had taken that photograph or not. He must have known the image could change his life. He accepted the credit then, and he maintains it now. What matters most is that the full truth has finally surfaced - and that, even 50 years late, due recognition can be given to the photographer who actually pressed the shutter.
