Dith Pran: Survivor and Messenger

Introduction

   The Vietnam War remains one of the most discredited wars in American history. Not only did the pointless blood shed destroy hundreds of thousands of lives, but its violence spilled beyond the violent battlefields of Vietnam. Even with the end of the war, another nightmare was already well underway. A nightmare so horrible that few victims can bear to reflect upon it, so destructive that the traditions and lives ere mercilessly ravaged, so obscure that, even today, few understand or know of the bloodshed that went on in the tranquil lands of Cambodia--the Cambodian Genocide.

    Out of the rubble of a broken country, having survived the torment and sufferings of the nightmare, one man spoke out when so many were silent. One man had the courage to face the horrors of genocide and teach the world about one of the most atrocious events ever to occur in human history. He is Dith Pran. Modest and composed, Pran did not consider himself a hero, but rather, a messenger. His message: "Together we can prevent genocide from happening again. Together we can make a better future for our children." His crusade against the perils of indifference continues, believing that a world that knows and remembers the errors of the past can ensure a better future than a world that remains ignorant and forgets such terrors.