Norman Morrison was a devout Quaker and anti-war activist best known for his act of self-immolation at age 31 to protest United States involvement in the Vietnam War. On 2 November 1965, Morrison doused himself in kerosene and set himself on fire below the office of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara at the Pentagon.
It has been suggested his action may have been taken after Thích Quảng Đức and other Buddhist monks, who burned themselves to death to protest the repression committed by the South Vietnam government of Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem.
Morrison’s choice to self-immolate was particularly symbolic in that it followed President Johnson’s controversial decision to authorise the use of napalm in Vietnam, a burning gel that sticks to the skin and melts the flesh.
Morrison was perceived to be sane and sincere in sacrificing himself for a cause greater than himself. In North Vietnam, Morrison quickly became a folk hero to some, his name rendered as Mo Ri Xon. Five days after Morrison died, Vietnamese poet Tố Hữu wrote a poem, "Emily, My Child", assuming the voice of Morrison addressing his daughter Emily and telling her the reasons for his sacrifice.
Morrison's widow, Anne, and the couple's two daughters visited Vietnam in 1999, where they met with Tố Hữu, the poet who had written the popular poem Emily, My Child.
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.
Today, there are streets in the Vietnamese cities of Da Nang and Hanoi named after Norman Morrison in memory of his act against American involvement in South Vietnam.
Source: Wikipedia
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