norman morrison (december 29, 1933 â 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 united states involvement in the vietnam war. norman graduated from the college of wooster in 1956.wooster graduate immolated himself at the pentagon in 1965 to protest the vietnam war  he was married and had two daughters and a son. on november 2, 1965, morrison doused himself in kerosene and set himself on fire below secretary of defense robert mcnamara's pentagon office."the pacifists" time magazine. november 12, 1965. (accessed july 23, 2007) the ultimate protest; [final edition] this was probably in emulation of buddhist monk thich quang duc, who burned himself to death in downtown saigon of then south vietnam to protest the repression committed by the south vietnam government. ==public response==  filmmaker errol morris interviewed secretary 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.the washington post. washington, d.c.: nov 4, 1999. pg. c.14. 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."grace like a balm, sojourners magazine/july-august 1995 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
1933_births 1965_deaths 20th-century_Quakers American_Quakers American_antiaVietnam_War_activists Deaths_from_fire_in_the_United_States People_from_Erie,_Pennsylvania Self-immolations_in_protest_of_the_Vietnam_War Suicides_in_Virginia