On September 20, 1965, 17-year-old Vietnamese militiawoman Nguyen Thi Kim Lai discovered in the forest American soldier William Andrew Robinson, a member of the crew of a US Air Force rescue helicopter that had been shot down over Ha Tinh province during a search operation for another downed American pilot. After three warning shots, Robinson surrendered. His height was about 2.2 meters, weight - about 120 kg, the Vietnamese girl was only 1.5 meters and weighed 37 kg. The photo "Little Guerrilla Girl" was taken by the Vietnamese journalist Phan Thuan, the frame instantly spread around the world. Named, and later appeared on a postage stamp of North Vietnam. Robinson spent 2,703 days in captivity, surviving several camps, including the famous Helo Prison in Hanoi, which American POWs called the "Hanoi Hilton." On February 12, 1973, after the peace accords in Paris, he was released as part of a prisoner exchange. He is believed to be the longest serving American soldier captured during the Vietnam War. After the war, Nguyen Thi Kim Lai trained as a nurse, worked in military medical units, and then returned to civilian life and married. Robinson continued to serve in the US Air Force, rose to the rank of captain and later retired. In September 1995, two years after normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam and 30 years after captivity, they met again. The meeting was organized by the Japanese television company NHK, which filmed a documentary about the fate of people who found themselves on opposite sides of the war. Robinson went to Ha Tinh province to see Nguyen Thi Kim Lai and photographer Phan Thanh. Robinson said afterwards that they were both lucky: if either of them had opened fire then, this meeting would never have taken place.

On September 20, 1965, 17-year-old Vietnamese militiawoman Nguyen Thi Kim Lai discovered in the forest American soldier William Andrew Robinson, a member of the crew of a US Air Force rescue helicopter that had been shot down over Ha Tinh province during a search operation for another downed American pilot. After three warning shots, Robinson surrendered. His height was about 2.2 meters, weight - about 120 kg, the Vietnamese girl was only 1.5 meters and weighed 37 kg. The photo "Little Guerrilla Girl" was taken by the Vietnamese journalist Phan Thuan, the frame instantly spread around the world. Named, and later appeared on a postage stamp of North Vietnam. Robinson spent 2,703 days in captivity, surviving several camps, including the famous Helo Prison in Hanoi, which American POWs called the "Hanoi Hilton." On February 12, 1973, after the peace accords in Paris, he was released as part of a prisoner exchange. He is believed to be the longest serving American soldier captured during the Vietnam War. After the war, Nguyen Thi Kim Lai trained as a nurse, worked in military medical units, and then returned to civilian life and married. Robinson continued to serve in the US Air Force, rose to the rank of captain and later retired. In September 1995, two years after normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam and 30 years after captivity, they met again. The meeting was organized by the Japanese television company NHK, which filmed a documentary about the fate of people who found themselves on opposite sides of the war. Robinson went to Ha Tinh province to see Nguyen Thi Kim Lai and photographer Phan Thanh. Robinson said afterwards that they were both lucky: if either of them had opened fire then, this meeting would never have taken place.