Execution of Nguyễn Văn Lém

The sole survivor of Lém's alleged killing of Tuân's family was Huan Nguyen; aged nine at the time, he was shot twice during the attack that killed his family and stayed with his mother for two hours as she bled to death. In 2019, he became the highest ranking Vietnamese-American officer in the U.S. military when he was promoted to the rank of rear admiral in the United States Navy.

Max Hastings, writing in 2018, said that Lém was alleged to have personally executed South Vietnamese Lt. Col. Nguyễn Tuân, his wife, six children and the officer’s 80-year-old mother shortly prior; he also wrote that American historian Ed Moise "is convinced that the entire story of Lém murdering the Tuân family is a post-war invention" and that "The truth will never be known." In 1978, a report by the United States Library of Congress concluded that Nguyễn Văn Lém's summary execution would have been illegal under South Vietnamese law.

In 2012, Douglas Sloan made the short film Saigon '68 about Adams' photograph. This film details the influence it had on the lives of Adams and Loan, along with the larger impact it had on public opinion of the Vietnam War.

In 1975, Loan fled South Vietnam during the Fall of Saigon, eventually emigrating to the United States. Pressure from the U.S. Congress resulted in an investigation by the Library of Congress. In 1978, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) contended that Loan had committed a war crime. They attempted to deport him, but President Jimmy Carter personally intervened to stop the proceedings, stating that "such historical revisionism was folly". Loan died on 14 July 1998 in Burke, Virginia, at the age of 67.

The photograph and film were broadcast worldwide, galvanizing the anti-war movement in the United States. Adams' photo of the event became one of the most famous and influential images of the war, winning him the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography.

Nguyễn Văn Lém (Vietnamese: [ŋʷǐənˀ vān lɛ̌m]; 1931/1932 – 1 February 1968), often referred to as Bảy Lốp, was an officer of the Viet Cong in the rank of captain. He was summarily executed in Saigon during the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War, when the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces launched a massive surprise attack. Before being captured, Lém had allegedly murdered South Vietnamese officer Nguyễn Tuân as well as six members of Tuân's family. Lém was brought to South Vietnamese general Nguyễn Ngọc Loan, who then immediately shot and killed him in the street. The event was witnessed and recorded by Võ Sửu, a cameraman for NBC, and Eddie Adams, an Associated Press photographer. The photograph and film became famous images in contemporary American journalism, and won Adams the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography.

Lém was captured in civilian clothing near the Ấn Quang Pagoda on 1 February 1968, during the Tet Offensive. He was brought to Brigadier General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan, Chief of the Republic of Vietnam National Police, at 252 Ngô Gia Tự Street, District 10 (.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}10°45′50″N 106°40′16″E / 10.7638°N 106.671°E / 10.7638; 106.671), near the present-day Chùa Trấn Quốc temple. Loan summarily executed Lém using his sidearm, a .38 Special Smith & Wesson Bodyguard revolver, to shoot him through the head. Loan was reported to have said afterwards: "If you hesitate, if you didn't do your duty, the men won't follow you." Lém was 36 years old at the time of his death.