Norman Morrison
Norman Morrison (December 29, 1933 - November 2, 1965), born in Erie, Pennsylvania, was a Baltimore Quaker best known for committing suicide at age 31 in an act of self-immolation to protest the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. Morrison's individual act of protest can perhaps be viewed also in a larger context: that of the phenomenon of acts of self-immolation by Buddhist monks in Vietnam during the 1960s, one of which--the death of monk Thich Quang Duc--was famously captured by photographer Malcolme Brown. Probably the most detailed treatment of the effects 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.
On November 2 1965, Morrison set himself on fire in front of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's Pentagon office, after dousing himself in kerosene.[1][2] He left his wife Anne Welsh and three children; Ben, Christina and Emily - Morrison took his one-year-old daughter Emily with him, either setting her down or handing her off to someone in the crowd, before setting himself ablaze. His 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,"..."And she 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." [3]
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."
Supporters of his actions portrayed Morrison as devoutly and sincerely sacrificing himself for a cause greater than himself, and Morrison quickly became a folk hero in Vietnam where his name was rendered Mo Ri Xon.[4] North Vietnam named a Hanoi street after him, and issued a postage stamp in his honour. Possession of the stamp was prohibited in the US due to the US embargo against N. Vietnam.
Seven days 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 (Ben had died of cancer years earlier) visited Vietnam in 1999 where they met with To Huu, the poet who had written the popular Emily, My Child.
On his visit to the United States in 2007, President of Vietnam Nguyen Minh Triet visited a site on the Potomac near the place where Morrison immolated himself and read the poem by To Huu to commemorate Morrison.[5]
Quote
Morrison's death was 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 -Robert McNamara[2]
See also
References
- ^ "The Pacifists" Time Magazine. November 12, 1965. (Accessed July 23, 2007) [1]
- ^ The Ultimate Protest; [FINAL Edition] The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: Nov 4, 1999. pg. C.14. (Accessed via ProQuest, July 23, 2007)
- ^ http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj9507&article=950752
- ^ http://www.mylaipeacepark.org/dedicate.html
- ^ Thanh Tuấn (July 7, 2007). "Đọc thơ Tố Hữu bên bờ sông Potomac". Tuoi Tre. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
External links
- Profile of Morrison
- Sojourners, interview with Anne Morrison Welsh, Morrison's widow