Self-immolation of George Winne Jr.

George Winne Jr.
Born	(1947-04-02)April 2, 1947 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Died	May 11, 1970(1970-05-11) (aged 23) La Jolla, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Burns from self-immolation

George Winne Jr. (April 2, 1947 – May 11, 1970) was an American student who, in protest of the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War, set himself on fire in an act of self-immolation at Revelle Plaza on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. The incident took place less than a month after the American invasion of Cambodia and one week after the Kent State Massacre. Winne's act was inspired by the self-immolation of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức in 1963 in response to the persecution of Buddhists by the regime of minority Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem.

Background

The son of a Navy Captain, George Winne Jr. was raised in San Diego. He was rejected from the US Naval Academy due to poor eyesight, but was an ROTC candidate at Colorado School of Mines before transferring to UCSD. He was a history major at Muir College. In December 1969, he became very withdrawn.

May 1970 Peace Memorial in 2024

Death

Slightly after 4pm on Sunday, May 10, George Winne lit gasoline soaked rags on his body in Revelle Plaza on the UCSD campus and began running, carrying a sign reading "In God's name, End this war." Graduate student Keith Stowe knocked him down and then Stowe and attempted to smother the flames: "but it didn't help." Winne suffered third and fourth degree burns over 95 percent of his body, and he died at Scripps Hospital at 2am on the 11th of May, 1970.

At noon on May 11, a memorial service was held in Revelle Plaza. Speakers included history professor and chair of the faculty senate Gabriel Jackson and philosophy professor Herbert Marcuse.

Memorials

The Winne Memorial at UCSD, looking south toward the Price Center ATMs.

For decades, faculty and students held vigils in remembrance of Winne in Revelle Plaza. In 2013, a group of students studying the history of progressive activism at UC San Diego, proposed a "memory site" near the location of Winne's act. In the winter of 2014, a "May 1970 Peace Memorial", was installed in Revelle Plaza.

A small plaque was also installed on the ground near the memorial, which reads:

Plaque in honor of Winne at the University of California, San Diego campus.

IN HONOR OF GEORGE WINNE JR.

WHO IMMOLATED HIMSELF IN

REVELLE PLAZA IN PROTEST OF

THE VIETNAM WAR IN 1970.

HE HELD A SIGN THAT READ

'IN THE NAME OF GOD,

END THE WAR'

See also

• Norman Morrison
• Alice Herz
• Florence Beaumont
• Roger Allen LaPorte
• Aaron Bushnell
• Self-immolations in protest to the Vietnam War

Further reading

• Keen, H. "San Diego student who set self afire in war protest dies", Los Angeles Times, May 12, 1970
• Buchbinder, David (May 7, 1974). In God's Name, End the War. Triton Times, p2.
• Boychuk, Ben (May 15, 2000). 30-Year-Old Tragedy Still Haunts UCSD. The UCSD Guardian, p5.
• Dille, Catherine (May 14, 1990). Students Hold Memorial on 20th Anniversary of War Protester's Death. The UCSD Guardian, p1.
• Schmitt, Walter (May 10, 1990). Remembering George Wynne(sic), Jr.. The UCSD Guardian, p5.

External links

• Images Of War - Bricks from the site of Winne's immolation
• Social Architectures – Memorial to George Winne Jr.