Dith Pran of The Killing Fields Dies at 65
Dith Pran passed away in New Brunswick, N.J., on Sunday. He was 65 and lived in Woodbridge, N.J. The cause was pancreatic cancer, which had spread, said his friend Sydney H. Schanberg.
Dith Pran was a photojournalist for the New York Times, who’s fame came from his brave survival of the killing fields of Cambodia. His experience was re-created in a 1984 movie called The Killing Fields.
He was forced by the Khmer Rouge to suffer unimaginable acts of abusive treatment, over the period of 4 YEARS. He was repeatedly starved and tortured
Pran has done much over the years, other than photographing for the New York Times:
Photojournalist for The New York Times since 1980;
Appointed Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1985;
Attended meeting of the International Red Cross in Geneva that promoted respect and international safe passage for war victims;
Testified several times before the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives regarding the Cambodian situation;
Member of the Asian American Journalist Association;
Board member to many non-governmental organizations
Received four honorary doctorate degrees;
1998 Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipient;
Founder & President of The Dith Pran Holocaust Awareness Project, Inc;
Compiler of Children of Cambodia’s Killing Fields: Memoirs by Survivors (Published by Yale, 1997;)
An authority on Cambodia, holding countless interviews with newspapers, magazines, wire services, major television and radio stations in the US and around the world;
Pran was loved by all his collegues and friends. His will to survive cancer and the killing fields of Cambodia, his courage and intelligence is a great example to all of us. He fought for his people in Cambodia and most of all he fought for freedom.And that was the news on Dith Pran.
Technorati Tags: the killing fields, sydney schanberg, killing fields, dith pran, pol pot, khmer rouge
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