AP PHOTOS: AP s Nick Ut took photos from hell to Hollywood

LOS ANGELES (AP) - It might seem all but impossible to sum up one of the most distinguished careers in photojournalism in only four words, but Nick Ut does just that when he says, "From hell to Hollywood."

And the Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, who is retiring this month after 51 years with The Associated Press, has the thousands of pictures to prove it.

The most famous one is a stunning black-and-white image from the Vietnam War that's come to be known worldwide as "Napalm Girl." Ut was 21 when he took the famous photo of Kim Phuc fleeing her burning village. After taking her picture, he rushed the terrified 9-year-old to a hospital.

FILE - This undated file photo shows Associated Press photographer Nick Ut in Vietnam. Ut will be retiring from the AP in March 2017 after 51 years of taking photographs from the front lines of the Vietnam War to the red carpets of Hollywood. (AP Photo)

The two remain close friends.

FILE - In this March 22, 1975 file photo, a refugee clutches a baby as a government helicopter gunship carries them away near Tuy Hoa, Vietnam, 235 miles northeast of Saigon. They were among thousands fleeing from Communist advances. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

FILE - In this March 11, 1972 file photo, a South Vietnamese soldier holds his personal belongings in a plastic bag between his teeth as his unit crosses a muddy Mekong Delta stream in Vietnam near the Cambodian border. His unit was charged with stemming Communist infiltration from Cambodia into South Vietnam in the heavily populated mekong tour ho chi minh Delta area. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

FILE - In this Wednesday, June 23, 1976 file photo, Muhammad Ali throws a left punch at a sandbag during workout at a gym in Tokyo. Later in the week, the world heavyweight boxing champion met Japanese pro wrestler Antonio Inoki in the world's Martial Arts Championship. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 5, 1984 file photo, President Ronald Reagan points toward the crowd as he speaks during a rally at Pierce College in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles. AP Photographer Nick Ut will be retiring from the AP in March 2017 after 51 years of taking photographs from the front lines of the Vietnam War to the red carpets of Hollywood. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

FILE - In this April 6, 1982 file photo, screen legend Bette Davis smokes a cigarette at an awards presentation in her honor in Beverly Hills, Calif. Davis was feted by the Film Advisory Board for her "outstanding contribution to the film and entertainment industry." (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

FILE - In this Friday, Jan. 16, 2004 file photo, Michael Jackson waves to his fans from atop his limousine after his arraignment on child molestation charges at the courthouse in Santa Maria, Calif. AP Photographer Nick Ut will be retiring from the AP in March 2017 after 51 years of taking photographs from the front lines of the Vietnam War to the red carpets of Hollywood. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009 file photo, a Los Angeles firefighter looks under a fire truck stuck in a sinkhole in the Valley Village neighborhood of Los Angeles. Four firefighters escaped injury early Tuesday after their vehicle sunk into the hole caused by a burst water main in the San Fernando Valley, authorities said. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

FILE - In this Friday, Aug. 26, 1994 file photo, O.J. Simpson and defense attorney Robert Shapiro sit in a Los Angeles Superior courtroom as Judge Lance Ito refused a request to open an afternoon session to the media. AP Photographer Nick Ut will be retiring from the AP in March 2017 after 51 years of taking photographs from the front lines of the Vietnam War to the red carpets of Hollywood. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, Pool)

FILE - In this Friday, June 8, 2007 file photo, Paris Hilton is transported in a police car from her home to court by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in Los Angeles. As she was taken to jail for driving violations, this photo was made on the 35th anniversary of the day Ut made the "Napalm Girl" picture in Vietnam. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

FILE - In this May 25, 1997 file photo, Phan Thi Kim Phuc plays with her son, Thomas Huy Hoang, 3, at a friend's home in Toronto. As a terrified nine-year-old, Phuc was photographed running down a South Vietnamese road after a June 8, 1972 napalm attack. As a permanent resident in Canada, she says "even though I suffered physically and emotionally, I'm happy, because I'm living without hatred." (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013 file photo, a DC-10 airplane tanker drops fire retardant to battle a wildfire in the San Gabriel Mountains in Azusa, Calif. AP Photographer Nick Ut will be retiring from the AP in March 2017 after 51 years of taking photographs from the front lines of the Vietnam War to the red carpets of Hollywood. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

FILE - In this Saturday, May 29, 2004 file photo, people gather on a pier in Huntington Beach, Calif., as the sun sets. AP Photographer Nick Ut will be retiring from the AP in March 2017 after 51 years of taking photographs from the front lines of the Vietnam War to the red carpets of Hollywood. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

FILE - In this Saturday, May 29, 2004 file photo, a man walks near the Yahiko Shrine during snowstorm in Yahiko Mura City, Japan. AP Photographer Nick Ut will be retiring from the AP in March 2017 after 51 years of taking photographs from the front lines of the Vietnam War to the red carpets of Hollywood. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

FILE - In this March 29, 2012 file photo, Associated Press photographer Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut visits Kim Phuc's house near the place where he made his famous Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of her as a terrified 9-year-old in Trang Bang, Tay Ninh province, Vietnam. Ut will be retiring from the AP in March 2017 after 51 years of taking photographs from the front lines of the Vietnam War to the red carpets of Hollywood. (AP Photo/Na Son Nguyen)