Dith Pran, the native Cambodian whose remarkable story of survival and escape became the basis of the Oscar-winning film The Killing Fields, has died from cancer at age 65. Pran was an assistant to New York Times journalist Sydney Schanberg, who was covering the fall of Cambodia to Communist Khmer Rouge forces in 1975, following the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam. With Pran's help, Schanberg managed to escape the country, but Pran was unable to do so. As with millions of his fellow Cambodians, Pran suffered the wrath of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, one of the most notorious mass murderers of the 20th century. Pol Pot had condemned to death anyone who might appear to be educated and deemed it a crime to wear eyeglasses on the basis that it implied intellectualism. He herded millions of city dwellers to rural "re-education" camps where the majority were beaten or starved to death. Although the world was appalled, no action was taken to stop the genocide, primarily because of America's recent military debacle in Vietnam - a fate no other nation wanted to share. In 1979, Vietnam invaded Cambodia and overthrew the Pol Pot regime. In the ensuing chaos, Pran managed to escape to Thailand - but only after a perilous journey through the jungles during which he discovered the unimaginable sight mass graves containing countless thousands of the Khmer Rouge's murder victims. He dubbed these locations as "The Killing Fields". He eventually got word to Schanberg in New York and the two had an emotional reunion. Schanberg arranged for Pran to emigrate to America and got him a job at the New York Times. He eventually became a respected photographer who never stopped lobbying for human rights. For more on this remarkable man, click here