Dith Pran, September 27, 1942 - March 30, 2008

Dith Pran, who survived the Killing Fields of Cambodia, has died today at the age of 65. Dith Pran was Sydney Schanberg's photographer and journalistic partner in Cambodia. When Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge in 1975, Schanberg was expelled from the country. Schanberg arranged for Dith Pran's wife and children to be evacuated to the United States, but Pran stayed behind.

Dith Pran lived through the madness that the Khmer Rouge brought upon the Cambodian people - a forced de-education of the population and a genocide that took two million lives, one third of the country's population. He escaped to Thailand in 1979 after the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia. Since coming to the United States after his escape, Dith Pran had worked tirelessly to spread awareness of the Cambodian genocide.

Dith Pran's work remains unfinished. He worked to end the horrors he had suffered and witnessed.

Now, he rests.  Rest in peace.

[Thank you noweasels]

[Cross posted at my blog.]

•  Remembering Dith Pran

  by Mash on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 07:54:24 PM PDT

  •  Thank you

    for this tribute honoring a good man.  

    by cfk on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:01:10 PM PDT

    •  I had been out all day

      and did not read about the news until this evening. I wanted to make sure DKos had at least one diary marking his passing.

      by Mash on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:03:22 PM PDT

  •  An Extraordinary Hero

    What a tribute to the Human spirit.  The best of the Human spirit.

    by opinionated on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:02:01 PM PDT

    •  A "real" hero in every sense of the word...

      This is heroism and it has NOTHING to do with guns and bombs and medals and uniforms.  

      by David Kroning on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:16:58 PM PDT

    •  He was that, indeed, opinionated.

      Bless you.

      by noweasels on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:49:29 PM PDT

•  Of course, we must not forget that...

  American involvement in Cambodia during the Vietnam War gave birth to this hideous regime.

  Just like American involvementin Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation gave birth to Al-Queda.

  When will this country ever learn?

  by David Kroning on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:01:29 PM PDT

  •  Nixon and Kissinger

    were not only complicit in Cambodia, they were more directly involved in the genocide in Bangladesh in 1971. Messrs Nixon and Kissinger caused a lot of human beings to perish while they played their little games of geopolitics.

    Sydney Schanberg covered both the Bangladesh genocide as well as the Cambodia genocide. His articles in the NYT bear testament to these acts of madness, and the Nixon admin's implicit or explicit support of the killings.

    by Mash on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:07:06 PM PDT

    •  It upsets me greatly when...

      People repeat this bullshit about John McCain being a "war" hero...

      The US caused the deaths of millions and millions of people in Southeast Asia--people who just wanted to live their lives.

      And we have to listen to how John McCain was mistreated...what utter hypocrisy.

      by David Kroning on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:13:27 PM PDT

  •  Please explain, David

    I've done quite a bit of reading on this period in Cambodian history, and what I came away with was that America was complicit in supporting the Khmer Rouge when the Vietnamese invaded to -- well, to stop the genocide was likely at least part of the reason.  We had just lost in Vietnam and weren't going to be on the same side of that country anytime soon, so we supported the Khmer Rouge's right to a seat at the U.N. In that way we gave the KR an undeserved legitimacy and prevented the one factor that stood to stop it then -- the Vietnamese invasion.  Only later did we switch positions and help the rest of the world de-legitimize the KR.  

    That's what I blame America for, and it is substantial.  What I haven't seen reason to blame America for is what came earlier, the rise of the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot.  My reading has led me to believe that this was an internal matter, a response to Sihanouk's deficiencies, etc.  I don't see the U.S. connection there -- or, at least the authors of the books I've read did not point to us.  Most of our bombing of the country during the Vietnam War was in the east, close to Vietnam, and south along the Mekong.  The Khmer Rouge strongholds were in a place I recently visited, the northwestern part of the country.

    I'm not telling you you're wrong; I'm just looking for the connective tissue between Pol Pot and the U.S. -- prior to 1978 or so.  And as you can see, it's a subject of interest to me -- one I've tried to educate myself about.

    by worldwideellen on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:19:56 PM PDT

    •  THere are plenty of books on this, but...

      let me explain as completely as I can given the hour.

      The North Vietnamese built a network called the Ho-Chi-Minh trail which rain mostly through Cambodia.

      Both during and after the Vietnam war, the US gave arms to the thugs that would become the Kmher Rouge in order that they might help the US by attacking the Vietnamese along the trail.

      When I wake up tommorrow, I will look for some references for you.

      by David Kroning on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:26:31 PM PDT

      •  I would recommend:

        Kenton Clymer, The US and Cambodia.  It's not the most detailed on this subject, but it's one of the most scholarly studies.  It looks like its available in its entirety on Google Books.

        Here you go:

        http://books.google.ca/...

        by David Kroning on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:34:22 PM PDT

        •  aha! this helps a lot

          Thanks for the reply, David.  I will look into this further as you suggest.  Right now from what you said it's clear that we at least inadvertently assisted the rise of the KR by throwing weapons around.  What I will be looking for, however, is evidence that we should have known better (beyond the obvious sense that handing out weapons usually comes back to bite you or somebody).  Otherwise it's just unintended consequences, isn't it?  I'm not an apologist for the U.S. by any means, but I don't need to blame us for boneheaded mistakes when there are perhaps many more-direct cause-and-effects in our recent and distant past.  Further comments from you very welcome.  But I'll check the source you've referred me to and keep reading.

          by worldwideellen on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 09:18:09 PM PDT

          •  available excerpt is limited in scope

            It cuts me off after about 25 pages, but what's available does deal with the period you and I are interested in.  The one mention of KR is the fact that U.S. bombing of "uninhabited areas" in Cambodia drove terrified villagers into the arms of the KR.  That's new information to me, and an understandable response on the part of those people.  What I'd love to see is more discussion of the HCM Trail, the arming of the thugs who became the KR, etc.  I now see how we helped destabilize an already destabilized country.  The cause and effect may not be direct, but it's there.  Another factor, though: Some of Sihanouk's actions and ambiguities seem very related to Cambodia's historic hate/distrust of the Vietnamese.  To the extent he acquiesced in American incursions and bombings, it's clear that a good part of his motivation was to remove those danged Vietnamese -- as Cambodian motivations have always been.  And in this way Sihanouk, it would seem to me, played his own distinctive role in destabilizing his own country and aiding the rise of the KR.  Maybe see/hear from you in the morning? I'm on Pacific time here.

            by worldwideellen on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 10:02:30 PM PDT

      •  I'm (barely) sub-35...

        ...so I find this all very novel and fascinating. Thank you for your perspectives!

        by SciVo on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 09:06:19 PM PDT

  •  This is all true.

    But I wish we could discuss these truths in another diary.  This diary is a memorial to a great hero, Dith Pran.

    It is Dith Pran and his courage we should be celebrating and mourning tonight.

    Bless him.  

    by noweasels on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 10:07:07 PM PDT

•  The Killing Fields had a great effect on me.

  The Killing Fields was a

  harrowing but rewarding 1984 drama concerns the real-life relationship between New York Times reporter Sidney Schanberg and his Cambodian assistant Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor), the latter left at the mercy of the Khmer Rouge after Schanberg--who chose to stay after American evacuation but was booted out--failed to get him safe passage. Filmmaker Roland Joffé, previously a documentarist, made his feature debut with this account of Dith's rocky survival in the ensuing madness of the Khmer Rouge's genocidal campaign. The script spends some time with Schanberg's feelings of guilt after the fact, but most of the movie is a shattering re-creation of hell on Earth. The late Haing S. Ngor--a real-life doctor who had never acted before and who lived through the events depicted by Joffé--is outstanding, and he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Oscars also went to cinematographer Chris Menges and editor Jim Clark.

  Great movie about a horrible genocide where millions of Cambodians died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. I always wondered what happened to Dith Pran after arriving in the U.S. Now he has now passed on.

  by immigradvocate on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:09:19 PM PDT

  •  It was a powerful movie

    Sadly, Haing S. Ngor, the actor who played Dith Pran, was killed in LA by street gangs.

    by Mash on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:14:15 PM PDT

    •  At the time of Haing Ngor's death

      Pran said: "I feel as though I have lost my right hand."

      by noweasels on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:18:10 PM PDT

  •  yes, I have the tape

    and played it for my students...it just tears you up to watch it...but it is so worth seeing...so important to remember.

    by cfk on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:20:08 PM PDT

    •  nothing you could possibly do, cfk

      would make Pran more pleased.  He dedicated so much of time to making sure that people understood genocide and never forgot what happened to the country he loved so much.

      by noweasels on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:26:29 PM PDT

      •  war crimes trials in Cambodia

        are giving a lot of us from Bangladesh hope that the same can also happen in Bangladesh. The genocide perpetrators and war criminals from 1971 will finally be brought to justice.

        When someone like Dith Pran raises awareness for the Cambodian genocide, it raises awareness of all genocides. He made a difference.

        by Mash on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:38:37 PM PDT

    •  a teacher did the same for me

      in seventh grade.  It was the first time I ever thought about the perils of American supremacy.

      Thank you, thank you, thank you for showing it to your students.  No kidding, I can't think of another moment in middle school that made a bigger impact on me.

      by alpelican on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:31:33 PM PDT

•  For all the voices

  crying in the wilderness of tyranny, injustice and warfare.

  Rest well Dith Pran.

  and to all you warmongering bastards:

  "And you invested in this prison
  From which you never got released
  You may have won this war we're fighting
  But would you tolerate the peace?"

  -"This War" by Sting from the CD "Sacred Love"

  by Dark UltraValia on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:10:31 PM PDT

•  Bless and honor Dith Pran

  I was fortunate enough to know Dith Pran, who in addition to being the most courageous person I have ever met, was a kind and gentle soul with an infectious laugh.  How he maintained that kindness and gentleness, how he could still laugh, after all he had suffered, never failed to amaze me.  He was a modest man -- always embarrassed by the accolades that readily came his way.

  Yoko Ono attended the premiere of The Killing Fields, which, as all of you who have seen it may remember, ends with Imagine.

  I am imagining tonight that dear Pran is surrounded by angels.

  Bless you, dear Mash.

  

  Special prayers tonight for Pran's brokenhearted family and friends; a special prayer for Sydney Schanberg.  Pran once told me they shared the same blood.

  by noweasels on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:14:49 PM PDT

  •  Thank you for this wonderful tribute

    I have posted the YouTube clip from the movie at the end of the diary.

    by Mash on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:19:44 PM PDT

    •  I'm not sure I can watch it.

      But thank you, dear Mash.  I've been crying a lot today.

      by noweasels on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:21:04 PM PDT

      •  Noweasels

        I know I'm coming in terribly late on this since you posted your comment at 11:21 and it is now 2:30A.M., but I was most concerned when I read your comments about "crying a lot today".  I truly hope everything is ok with you and most especially with Madison!!! I pray to St. Francis every night for Madison to get better.

        Best wishes to you guys.

        by nabwilson on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 11:40:45 PM PDT

•  One other thing you should know

  On the day Phnom Penh fell, Sydney Schanberg and the few other western journalists still there (Sydney was the only American) were rounded up by the Khmer Rouge and herded onto a truck.  The Khmer Rouge were not interested in Pran, but he begged and cajoled and argued his way onto the truck.  Hours later, after all the journalists were threatened with execution (with guns to their heads), Pran somehow negotiated their release.  He saved their lives ~ at great risk to his own.

  This is the man he was.

  by noweasels on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:37:07 PM PDT

•  thank you for this tribute

  The story of the Killing Fields made a huge impact on me as a boy, and gave me better understanding/empathy for what my own father went through in the mid-70s.  He didn't have to deal with genocide, but he did have to deal with the loss of his homeland, career, and the fracture of his family.  He was a diplomat working for Laos at that time, and what was once a promising career working for his country and a comfortable life for his family got ripped away by events of the time.  I am thankful however that he/we never had to go through anything close to as bad as what Dith Pran and the people of Cambodia experienced.

  by tbounnak on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:40:17 PM PDT

•  the movie

  the killings fields

  changed my life - i saw it when i was a freshman in college, went in still an adolescent, and came out an adult.

  when i learned about the holocaust, i promised 'never again'

  then i learned, it's already happened since then, and even before.  

  and it's still happening.  

  and we have lost a bright light against the darkness.

  mash:  you are a bright light against the darkness yourself!

  by jlms qkw on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:40:36 PM PDT

  •  my hope

    is that, whatever small efforts we make, will move events slightly for the better.

    I see genocide awareness rising amongst the younger generation. My hope is that our children, and those who come after them, will finally stamp out this evil.

    There will always be killing - but, one hopes that we as human being will evolve to a point where we can stop mass murdering people.

    by Mash on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:48:54 PM PDT

•  Mash

  please send me your email address -- I have something I would like to send to you . . .

  noweasels at gmail dot com.

  Thank you.

  by noweasels on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:47:17 PM PDT

  •  sent

    by Mash on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 08:51:06 PM PDT

    •  Reply sent.

      Thank you.

      by noweasels on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 09:04:12 PM PDT

•  In 2001

  only a few days after 911, I visited Cambodia. I spent a few days wandering around Angkor Wat, which was absolutely magnificent. Beautiful, well preserved ancient Hindu temples as far as the eye could see. While standing atop the largest temple, watching the sun begin its retreat, I greeted a couple as they reached the top of the tall, steep stairway. It turned out they live only a mile away from me here in Santa Monica. It truly is a small world.

  I also took a trip to the killing fields. I can't find the photo right now, but basically what my driver showed me was a small structure that looked something like a phone booth, filled from top to bottom with human bones. As I took my photo, a tiny, emaciated starving kitten wobbled onto the base of the structure and laid down in front of it. Tears welled up in my eyes.

  I toured throughout Siem Riap, the town where Angkor Wat is located. Then I flew south to Phnom Penh and spent a few days riding around the area on a motorbike. The area around the city is beautiful. Narrow dirt roads go on for miles, lined on both sides by small shops, thatched huts and grazing oxen, and bordered by wide swaths of water.

  I remember wondering how the Cambodian people would feel about me. Would they hate me for the terrible things America did to their country? In fact, the complete opposite was true. Everywhere I went, adults and children gathered around me, proudly speaking in English, showing off to their friends. Apparently, for many years speaking in English was a crime punishable by death. Now that it was allowed, people were spending what little money they had learning English and French, and getting educated in general.

  As I traveled throughout Cambodia and also Laos, my mind flashed back to images of the Vietnam war, which I experienced only via TV news as a child. Even though I had never actually been there before it was cathartic. It was haunting.

  I remember wishing many times that more Americans would visit these places and meet these people. Maybe if more of US could know more of THEM, it would not be so easy for us to say yes to war again.

  by somtam on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 09:19:06 PM PDT

  •  us and them

    Thank you for sharing your recollections. You are right, it is much easier to hate or kill if we can neatly put people in "us" and "them" categories. The thing with getting to know someone is that they also become "us".

    by Mash on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 09:32:48 PM PDT

    •  One thing I forgot to mention

      While in Siem Reap I visited the Landmine Museum. It was founded by a man named Aki Ra. As a 10 year old child he was handed a gun and soon found himself drafted into the war. He spent the next years of his life fighting in several armies.

      Years later he made it his mission to work with others to find and defuse as many of the remaining millions of active land mines and fallen bombs scattered throughout Siem Reap as he could. He bought some land on which to store and display these weapons to visitors as a terrible reminder of that war.

      I remember him showing me around and pointing out which weapons came from which country. A LOT of countries were represented in that museum, and I don't mean in a good way.

      by somtam on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 11:27:02 PM PDT

•  Killing fields memorial

  

  at Choeng Ek, a few km south of Phnom Penh. Photo from January 1995.

  The Khmer Rouge sprung up in northeastern Cambodia in the area around the VN border. The first "liberated areas" were here. These areas had been subjected to US bombing.

  Initially they were supported by the Vietnamese but after about 1970 the Vietnamese began to be seen as a threat. Also Lon Nol's US backed army committed atrocities in the region which led to support for the Khmer Rouge. Lon Nol's army also often vented its fury on Vietnamese civilians.

  Later, after the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge retreated to the western parts of Cambodia.

  There is a definite connect between US policies and actions in the region and the rise of the Khmer Rouge.

  From the book Pol Pot by Philip Short:

  ... as the first Marines waded ashore at Da Nang, hawks in Washington began urging the right of 'immediate pursuit' into Viet Cong sanctuaries. In response, Sihanouk sought closer ties with North Vietnam and the Soputh Vietbnamese NLF. The result was a structural distortion, a skewness, in Cambodin polilcy. No longer could he be the tightrope walker, balancing leftists against rightists in Cambodia and Americans against Chinese abroad. Instead, the communists who supported him in Beijing and the anti-communists who supported him at home were tugging in opposite directions. It would take another five years before the tightrope snapped...

  Philip Short's book is an excellent and detailed account of the history of Cambodia during that era and the period that led to it.

  by truong son traveler on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 09:42:19 PM PDT

  •  thanks!

    As you no doubt saw above, I was looking for connective tissue between U.S. involvement and Pol Pot.  I'll look into this source.

    by worldwideellen on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 10:08:42 PM PDT

    •  It's an excellent acount

      going back to the days of Sar's (Pol Pot) birth and childhood and through the period of his studies in France and of course the war years and their aftermath.

      Highly recommended. The paperback version has about 500 pages.

      by truong son traveler on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 10:35:08 PM PDT