The context missing from the famous Saigon execution photograph

Eddie Adams captured one of the most famous photographs of the Vietnam War. The image shows General Loan shooting Nguyễn Văn Lém on a Saigon street.

What the photograph does not show

The picture leaves out who Lém really was. He was a Viet Cong revenge squad captain. That morning, he attacked Go Vap's armor base.

The technical details

Ballistic experts say the photograph captured the bullet entering his head. The image became one of the defining photographs of the war, but without the context of Lém's actions that day.