Get out! Run! We must leave this place! They are going to destroy this whole place! Go, children, run first! Go now!These were the final shouts nine year-old Kim Phuc heard before her world dissolved into flames–before napalm bombs fell from the sky, burning away her clothing and searing deep into her skin. It’s a moment forever captured, an iconic image that has come to define the horror and … horror and violence of the Vietnam War. Kim was left for dead in a morgue; no one expected her to survive the attack. Napalm meant fire, and fire meant death.Against all odds, Kim lived–but her journey toward healing was only beginning. When the napalm bombs dropped, everything Kim knew and relied on exploded along with them: her home, her country’s freedom, her childhood innocence and happiness. The coming years would be marked by excruciating treatments for her burns and unrelenting physical pain throughout her body, which were constant reminders of that terrible day. Kim survived the pain of her body ablaze, but how could she possibly survive the pain of her devastated soul?Fire Road is the true story of how she found the answer in a God who suffered Himself; a Savior who truly understood and cared about the depths of her pain. Fire Road is a story of horror and hope, a harrowing tale of a life changed in an instant–and the power and resilience that can only be found in the power of God’s mercy and love.
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Some books impact you more deeply than others, and this book was one of those for me. I always approach memoirs with a slight hesitancy—so many get off on tangents, or drag on far too long, but generally, there’s SOMETHING worth getting out of them, so I do my best to try to include a few in my reading diet every year.
Fire Road, though, was a refreshing read. The things Kim Phuc had to go through in her childhood and young adult years were beyond anything I could imagine, but the faith and tenacity she showed as she endured it all was encouraging, to say the least. So often, she had to deal with injustice with no possible recourse, and as an outsider looking on her life, I’d say what a waste! But God’s perfect timing was shown over and over again, and though it would be great to change the circumstances, her example of courage blessed me—and inspired me to be more courageous in my own life.
Anything but dry, this is an excellent memoir that I highly recommend.
Beautifully written memoir. Heartbreaking and yet triumphant journey from pain and loss to deliverance by Jesus. Highly recommend.
You can’t be an American without having strong feelings about the Vietnam War. One of the most extraordinary images from it, and one of the world’s most shocking depictions of the impact of violent conflict, is an image that, once seen, is never forgotten. It’s the famous heart-breaking photo of the eight year old “Napalm girl” running down the fiery road crying,
The little girl, Kim Phuc Thi, wasn’t expected to survive. She did. And the next 20 years were horrifying for her. She suffered through 17 surgeries, excruciating pain, skin that was grafted many times, and thick scars that, to this day, still cause her pain. Medics told her she couldn’t get married or have children, and then after the war, the Communists used her for propaganda purposes, with interpreters changing what she said to match Communist talking points. Kim felt alone, isolated, hopeless, and ultimately suicidal.
Kim eventually wrote a book of her own about her experiences called Fire Road, telling the true story of how she found Jesus Christ, whom she sees as the Savior who personally understands and cares about her pain. She reveals the details of a life changed in an instant.
I highly recommend this memoir. It’s beautifully written and a fast read. My only quibble is a familiar and age-old spiritual, perhaps, philosophical one. In an era such as the one we find ourselves in, where our leaders are doing their best to destroy democracy, corrupt the system, and break the law, how long can we hang onto the idea that the human race is naturally good, led by a virtuous god? Kim survived a war and spent most of her her life paying for that survival with constant pain and suffering. And yet wars keep happening and evil persists.
I remain skeptical.
Best introduction I have ever read. I have already given this book as a gift.
I learned things about the Vietnam War that I didn’t know. I feel like this is a very important book about that war, and the role of the United States in it. It is also an extremely inspirational story about the power of God in our lives today.