One of the most extreme forms of protesting in America occurred when Norman Morrison from Baltimore set himself on fire in from of the Pentagon. He had taken his baby daughter, Emily, with him. Emily was rescued and saved, but Morrison made a huge impact. 

Why did Morrison chose self immolation? One friend, John Paisley, said, "We had to talk him out in the same manner last year. He wanted to do it when the monks in Saigon were killing themselves in that way."

Roemer tried to explain Morrison's actions at a memorial service three weeks after his immolation: In a society where it is normal for human beings to drop bombs on human targets, where it is normal to spend 50 percent of the individual's tax dollar on war, where it is normal to have twelve times overkill capacity, Norman Morrison was not normal. He said, 'Let it stop.'

Alice Herz, an 82 year old, was the first to immolate herself on a Detroit street corner on March 16, 1965. On the way to the hospital, Herz told a firefighter “I did it to protest the arms race all over the world. I wanted to burn myself like the monks in Vietnam did.” Morrison was followed by two other Americans to set fire to themselves,  Roger LaPorte and George Winne.