Norman Morrison
Encyclopedia
Norman Morrison born in Erie, Pennsylvania
, was a Baltimore
Quaker best known for committing suicide at age 31 in an act of self-immolation
to protest United States
involvement in the Vietnam War
.
On November 2, 1965, Morrison doused himself in kerosene and set himself on fire below Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara
's Pentagon
office.
during the 1960s, one of which—the death of monk Thích Quảng Đức—was famously captured by photographer Malcolm Browne
.
On June 11, 1963 Thích Quảng Đức, a Vietnam
ese Mahayana Buddhist monk
, burned himself to death
at a busy Saigon
road intersection
. Thích Quảng Đức was protesting the persecution of Buddhists by South Vietnam's
Ngô Đình Diệm administration. Photos of his self-immolation were circulated widely across the world and brought attention to the policies of the Diệm regime.
On March 16, 1965 Alice Herz
, an 82 year old pacifist, immolated herself on a Detroit street corner in protest of the escalating Vietnam War. A man and his two boys were driving by and saw her burning and put out the flames. She died of her wounds ten days later. Herz remarked that she had used all the protest methods available to activists: marching, protesting, writing articles, letters.
interviewed McNamara at length on camera in his documentary film, "The Fog of War
." McNamara says, "[Morrison] came to the Pentagon, doused himself with gasoline. Burned himself to death below my office... his wife issued a very moving statement - 'human beings must stop killing other human beings' - and that's a belief that I shared, I shared it then, I believe it even more strongly today". McNamara then posits, "How much evil must we do in order to do good? We have certain ideals, certain responsibilities. Recognize that at times you will have to engage in evil, but minimize it." Perhaps the most detailed treatment of Morrison's death appears in, "The Living and the Dead: Robert McNamara
and Five Lives of a Lost War", by prizewinning author Paul Hendrickson, published in 1997.
Morrison took his daughter Emily, then one year of age, to the Pentagon, and either set her down or handed her off to someone in the crowd before setting himself ablaze. Morrison's reasons for taking Emily are not entirely known. However, Morrison's wife later recalled, "Whether he thought of it that way or not, I think having Emily with him was a final and great comfort to Norman... [S]he was a powerful symbol of the children we were killing with our bombs and napalm--who didn't have parents to hold them in their arms."
In a letter he mailed to his wife, Morrison reassured her of the faith in his act. "Know that I love thee," Morrison wrote, "but I must go to help the children of the priest's village." Robert McNamara
described Morrison's death as "a tragedy not only for his family but also for me and the country. It was an outcry against the killing that was destroying the lives of so many Vietnamese and American youth."
He was survived by his wife Anne Welsh and three children, Ben, Christina and Emily. Supporters of his actions portrayed Morrison as devoutly and sincerely sacrificing himself for a cause greater than himself. In Vietnam, Morrison quickly became a folk hero, his name rendered as Mo Ri Xon. Five days after Morrison died Vietnamese poet Tố Hữu
wrote a poem called Emily, My Child, assuming the voice of Morrison addressing his daughter Emily and telling her the reasons for his sacrifice. North Vietnam
named a Hanoi
street after him, and issued a postage stamp
in his honor. Possession of the stamp was prohibited in the US due to the US embargo against North Vietnam.
One week after Morrison's action, Roger Allen LaPorte
performed a similar act in New York City
, in front of the United Nations
building.
On May 9, 1967, as part of the start to the 1967 Pentagon camp-in, demonstrators held a vigil
for Morrison, before occupying the Pentagon for four days until being removed and arrested.
Morrison's widow and two daughters (his son had died of cancer
years earlier) visited Vietnam in 1999, where they met with Tố Hữu, the poet who had written the popular poem Emily, My Child. Anne Morrison Welsh recounts the visit and her husband's tragedy in her monograph, Fire of the Heart: Norman Morrison's Legacy In Vietnam And At Home.
On his visit to the United States in 2007, President of Vietnam
Nguyễn Minh Triết visited a site on the Potomac near the place where Morrison immolated himself and read the poem by Tố Hữu to commemorate Morrison.
, where he is played by Victor Slezak
.
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
, was a Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
Quaker best known for committing suicide at age 31 in an act of self-immolation
Self-immolation
Self-immolation refers to setting oneself on fire, often as a form of protest or for the purposes of martyrdom or suicide. It has centuries-long traditions in some cultures, while in modern times it has become a type of radical political protest...
to protest United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
involvement in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
On November 2, 1965, Morrison doused himself in kerosene and set himself on fire below Secretary of Defense
United States Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...
Robert McNamara
Robert McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968, during which time he played a large role in escalating the United States involvement in the Vietnam War...
's Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
office.
Preceding immolations
Morrison's individual act of protest can also be viewed in a larger context: that of the phenomenon of acts of self-immolationSelf-immolation
Self-immolation refers to setting oneself on fire, often as a form of protest or for the purposes of martyrdom or suicide. It has centuries-long traditions in some cultures, while in modern times it has become a type of radical political protest...
during the 1960s, one of which—the death of monk Thích Quảng Đức—was famously captured by photographer Malcolm Browne
Malcolm Browne
Malcolm Wilde Browne is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist and photographer. His best known work is the award-winning photograph of the self-immolation of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức in 1963.- Early life :...
.
On June 11, 1963 Thích Quảng Đức, a Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
ese Mahayana Buddhist monk
Bhikkhu
A Bhikkhu or Bhikṣu is an ordained male Buddhist monastic. A female monastic is called a Bhikkhuni Nepali: ). The life of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis is governed by a set of rules called the patimokkha within the vinaya's framework of monastic discipline...
, burned himself to death
Self-immolation
Self-immolation refers to setting oneself on fire, often as a form of protest or for the purposes of martyrdom or suicide. It has centuries-long traditions in some cultures, while in modern times it has become a type of radical political protest...
at a busy Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
road intersection
Intersection (road)
An intersection is a road junction where two or more roads either meet or cross at grade . An intersection may be 3-way - a T junction or fork, 4-way - a crossroads, or 5-way or more...
. Thích Quảng Đức was protesting the persecution of Buddhists by South Vietnam's
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
Ngô Đình Diệm administration. Photos of his self-immolation were circulated widely across the world and brought attention to the policies of the Diệm regime.
On March 16, 1965 Alice Herz
Alice Herz
Alice Herz was the first activist in the United States known to have immolated herself in protest of the escalating Vietnam War, following the example of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức who immolated himself in protest of the alleged oppression of Buddhists under the South Vietnamese government. ...
, an 82 year old pacifist, immolated herself on a Detroit street corner in protest of the escalating Vietnam War. A man and his two boys were driving by and saw her burning and put out the flames. She died of her wounds ten days later. Herz remarked that she had used all the protest methods available to activists: marching, protesting, writing articles, letters.
Public response
Filmmaker Errol MorrisErrol Morris
Errol Mark Morris is an American director. In 2003, The Guardian put him seventh in its list of the world's 40 best directors. Also in 2003, his film The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.-Early life and...
interviewed McNamara at length on camera in his documentary film, "The Fog of War
The Fog of War
The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara is a 2003 American documentary film about the life and times of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara as well as illustrating his observations of the nature of modern warfare...
." McNamara says, "[Morrison] came to the Pentagon, doused himself with gasoline. Burned himself to death below my office... his wife issued a very moving statement - 'human beings must stop killing other human beings' - and that's a belief that I shared, I shared it then, I believe it even more strongly today". McNamara then posits, "How much evil must we do in order to do good? We have certain ideals, certain responsibilities. Recognize that at times you will have to engage in evil, but minimize it." Perhaps the most detailed treatment of Morrison's death appears in, "The Living and the Dead: Robert McNamara
Robert McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968, during which time he played a large role in escalating the United States involvement in the Vietnam War...
and Five Lives of a Lost War", by prizewinning author Paul Hendrickson, published in 1997.
Morrison took his daughter Emily, then one year of age, to the Pentagon, and either set her down or handed her off to someone in the crowd before setting himself ablaze. Morrison's reasons for taking Emily are not entirely known. However, Morrison's wife later recalled, "Whether he thought of it that way or not, I think having Emily with him was a final and great comfort to Norman... [S]he was a powerful symbol of the children we were killing with our bombs and napalm--who didn't have parents to hold them in their arms."
In a letter he mailed to his wife, Morrison reassured her of the faith in his act. "Know that I love thee," Morrison wrote, "but I must go to help the children of the priest's village." Robert McNamara
Robert McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968, during which time he played a large role in escalating the United States involvement in the Vietnam War...
described Morrison's death as "a tragedy not only for his family but also for me and the country. It was an outcry against the killing that was destroying the lives of so many Vietnamese and American youth."
He was survived by his wife Anne Welsh and three children, Ben, Christina and Emily. Supporters of his actions portrayed Morrison as devoutly and sincerely sacrificing himself for a cause greater than himself. In Vietnam, Morrison quickly became a folk hero, his name rendered as Mo Ri Xon. Five days after Morrison died Vietnamese poet Tố Hữu
To Huu
Tố Hữu was Vietnam’s most famous revolutionary poet. He published five collections of poems, the first of which was the 1946 collection entitled Poem, which included many of his most popular and influential works that were written during the anti-French period from 1937 to 1946.Tố Hữu was born...
wrote a poem called Emily, My Child, assuming the voice of Morrison addressing his daughter Emily and telling her the reasons for his sacrifice. North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
named a Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
street after him, and issued a postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
in his honor. Possession of the stamp was prohibited in the US due to the US embargo against North Vietnam.
One week after Morrison's action, Roger Allen LaPorte
Roger Allen LaPorte
Roger Allen LaPorte is best known as a protester of the Vietnam War who set himself on fire in front of the United Nations building in New York City on November 9, 1965, to protest the United States involvement in the war...
performed a similar act in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, in front of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
building.
On May 9, 1967, as part of the start to the 1967 Pentagon camp-in, demonstrators held a vigil
Vigil
A vigil is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance...
for Morrison, before occupying the Pentagon for four days until being removed and arrested.
Morrison's widow and two daughters (his son had died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
years earlier) visited Vietnam in 1999, where they met with Tố Hữu, the poet who had written the popular poem Emily, My Child. Anne Morrison Welsh recounts the visit and her husband's tragedy in her monograph, Fire of the Heart: Norman Morrison's Legacy In Vietnam And At Home.
On his visit to the United States in 2007, President of Vietnam
President of Vietnam
The President of Vietnam is the head of state of Vietnam, although the functions of the President are often ceremonial...
Nguyễn Minh Triết visited a site on the Potomac near the place where Morrison immolated himself and read the poem by Tố Hữu to commemorate Morrison.
Cultural depictions
Morrison's immolation is portrayed in the HBO film Path to WarPath to War
Path to War is a 2002 American biographical television film, produced by HBO and directed by John Frankenheimer that deals directly with the Vietnam War as seen through the eyes of United States President Lyndon B...
, where he is played by Victor Slezak
Victor Slezak
Victor Slezak is an American stage, television and screen actor who has appeared in numerous films, including The Bridges of Madison County , Beyond Rangoon , The Devil's Own , The Siege ,The Cat's Meow , Timequest as John F...
.
See also
- Alice HerzAlice HerzAlice Herz was the first activist in the United States known to have immolated herself in protest of the escalating Vietnam War, following the example of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức who immolated himself in protest of the alleged oppression of Buddhists under the South Vietnamese government. ...
- Brian WillsonBrian WillsonS. Brian Willson is an American Vietnam veteran, peace activist, and attorney-at-law.Willson served in the US Air Force from 1966 to 1970, including several months as a combat security officer in Vietnam. He left the Air Force as a Captain...
- Florence BeaumontFlorence BeaumontFlorence Beaumont was an American who self-immolated herself in protest of the escalating Vietnam war. She had two children....
- George Winne, Jr.
- List of political self-immolations
- Thích Quảng Đức
Further reading
Anne Morrison Welsh with Joyce Hollyday Held in the light: : One Man's Sacrifice for Peace and His Family's Search for Healing, Orbis 2008, ISBN 978-1570758027External links
- Profile of Morrison
- Sojourners, interview with Anne Morrison Welsh, Morrison's widow
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/2010/12/101221_outlook_vietnam_self_immolation.shtml, BBC interview with Anne Morrison Welsh, Morrison's widow, December, 2010
- Interview by John-Paul Flintoff with Anne Morrison Welsh, Morrison's widow in The Guardian (Family section) Saturday 16 October 2010, "I told them to be brave".