Dith Pran, 1942-2008

I only came across this news perchance. Anyone familiar with the 1975-1979 period of Cambodian history will likely know of Dith Pran. His story was recounted by fellow New York Times correspondent Sydney Schanberg, and later by director Roland Joffe, when he crafted a sombre, ghoulish, but still phenomenal movie entitled The Killing Fields.

The man survived not only the mayhem imposed on Cambodia as a result of the fallout from the Vietnam war -- which is a story in itself, and is mercilessly recounted by William Shawcross in his 1979 book Sideshow -- but also the Khmer Rouge genocide, which consumed the lives of three of his siblings. As part of their utopian-fashioned national renewal of Cambodia, these bloodsuckers also consumed up to one in four other Cambodians. To this day, there is no one in the country who has not been affected, in some way or another, by them.

He went on to begin a new life in the United States, where he worked as a photographer and journalist, always speaking out about the reality of genocide worldwide. He once said: "The Jewish people's search for justice did not end with the death of Hitler and the Cambodian people's search for justice doesn't end with Pol Pot." That last bit is still ongoing, with rather mixed results; indeed, Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge's leader, died in a jungle outpost some time in 1998.

Alas, Dith Pran could not stand up to the scourge of cancer, and he died early this morning (Sunday). All who empathize with the tragedy of Cambodia are at a sad loss because of it.