Self-immolations during the Vietnam War
Protests over the Vietnam War included people making the ultimate statement. They killed themselves by lighting themselves on fire - a process called self-immolation. The photo is of Buddist monk Thích Quảng Đức self-immolation in Saigon in 1963. He was the first of many.
I offer my body as a torch
to dissipate the dark
to waken love among men
to give peace to Vietnam
(the one who burns herself for peace)
by Nhat Chi Mai 1967
This is a list of all those who self-immolated because of the Vietnam War. I couldn't find information about most of them on the Internet. I had to go back to the newspapers published at the time.
| Jun 11, 1963 | Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức |
| Aug 4, 1963 | Buddhist monk Thích Mguyen Huong |
| Aug 13, 1963 | Buddhist monk Thích Thanh Tuck |
| Aug 15, 1963 | Buddhist nun Dieti Quảng |
| Aug 16, 1963 | Buddhist monk Thích Tieu |
| Mar 26, 1965 | Alice Herz in Detroit |
| Oct 12, 1965 | Hiroko Hayasaki |
| Nov 2, 1965 | Norman Morrison in Washington DC |
| Nov 9, 1965 | Celene Jankowski in South Bend, Indiana |
| Nov 9, 1965 | Roger Allen LaPorte in New York City |
| May 28, 1966 | Buddhist nun Thích Nữ Thanh Quảng |
| May 28, 1966 | Buddhist woman Ho Thi Thieu |
| May 28, 1966 | Buddhist nun Thích Nữ Vinh Ngoc |
| May 31, 1966 | Buddhist woman Nguyen Thi Van |
| Jun 4, 1966 | Buddhist nun Thích Nữ Dien Dinh |
| Jun 4, 1966 | Buddhist nun Thích Nữ Bao Luan |
| May 3, 1967 | Le Thai Cuc in Saigon |
| May 16, 1967 | Buddhist nun Nhất Chi Mai in Saigon |
| Oct 3, 1967 | Buddhist nun Thích Nữ Tri in Saigon |
| Oct 15, 1967 | Florence Beaumont in Los Angeles |
| Oct 22, 1967 | Buddhist nun Thích Nữ Hue |
| Nov 1, 1967 | Buddhist nun Thích Nữ Thuong |
| Nov 12, 1967 | Yui Chunoshin |
| Dec 4, 1967 | Erik Thoen |
| Mar 1, 1968 | Pham Van Qui in Saigon |
| Mar 19, 1968 | Ronald Brazee in Syracuse, NY |
| Apr 1968 | Shirakawa Kazuo |
| Oct 1968 | Steve Sexton |
| May 11, 1970 | George Winne Jr. in San Diego |
Self-immolation is still used today by Tibetans protesting the occupation of their country by China.
Not all suicides to protest the Vietnam War were by self-immolation. New Jersey teenagers Craig Badiali and Joan Fox killed themselves on October 16, 1969 via asphyxiation from car exhaust.
Sources
- Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War
- Activism Through the Years (Daily Bruin - UCLA)
- American Immolations Vietnam War
- They Who Burned Themselves for Peace: Quaker and Buddhist Self-Immolators during the Vietnam War
- CNN: US airman dies after setting himself on fire outside Israeli Embassy in Washington