June 8, 1972 was the day forever engrained into 9-year old Vietnamese girl Phan Thi Kim Phuc’s life who was severely burned during a napalm attack. The Vietnam war was a gruesome conflict between North Vietnam and South Vietnam resulting in many causalities. Napalm is an incendiary mixture of gasoline, naphthalene and palmitate that is extremely volatile and flammable. Kim at the time suffered equivalent of third- and four-degree napalm burns to her left arm, neck, shoulder, back and right hand. A photo capturing this incident is widely renowned as depicting the atrocities of the Vietnam War. Dr Randall E McNally was a US based Plastic Surgeon who treated Kim. She underwent 3 separate operations resulting in a total of 17 skin grafts from her buttocks and thigh. She continued intensive physical therapy in these years to regain function of her burned limbs. Flash forward 40 years, Kim underwent a series of laser-based therapies (Erbium-YAG laser and ablative carbon dioxide laser) to further reduce pain to her scars and increase nerve regeneration of burned areas. Plastic and reconstructive surgery has a wide range of applications from burn management in war zones to improving functional outcomes of patient’s post injury.