The Foreign Service Journal, March 2023

AFSA NEWS 54 MARCH 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL In late December, the final stage of a yearlong expansion and rehabilitation project for the AFSA Memorial Plaques was completed. Craftspeople from R.S. Kinnaird Memorials repainted the faded inscriptions on the 50-year-old center panel of the AFSA Memorial Plaques on the east wall of the Department of State’s C Street lobby. The project restored 917 faded letters and dates using a special paint containing gold dust imported from the United Kingdom. Installed in the late 1960s, the plaque was first inscribed in 1972. It bears the names of 76 colleagues who died between 1967 and 1988 in circumstances distinctive to overseas service. More than one-third were killed in Vietnam, Laos, or Cambodia. AFSA suspended inscribing names between 1963 and 1972; existing records do not explain why. Writing in The Foreign Service Journal in October 1999, retired Senior FSO David T. Jones observed: “The extended delay engendered suspicions among FSOs that the depart- ment was attempting to conceal the extent of its losses from a rank and file (and a larger public) increasingly skeptical of the purpose and value of the war effort.” As the caretaker of the AFSA Memorial Plaques since 1933, AFSA is proud to honor our fallen colleagues. Their names and details of their service can be viewed at www. afsa.org/plaques. n Memorial Plaques Restoration Completed AFSA AFSA College Scholarships Applications are now open for nearly $400,000 in college aid to children of AFSAmembers. Financial Aid. In 2023, AFSA will award $263,000 in need- based financial aid to incoming or current college undergradu- ates. Last year, 60 students were awarded scholarships ranging from $2,000 to $6,000. Merit Aid. In 2023, AFSAwill award $143,500 in merit aid to high school seniors. Last year, 146 students applied, and 38 received grants. Most scholarships amount to $3,500 and will be given in four categories: academic merit, art merit, community service, and best essay. Due to difficulties surrounding COVID-19, AFSA will not require students to have taken either the SAT or ACT test. The AFSAScholarship Program is made possible through generous donations fromour partners at BlueCross BlueShield, DACOR, and numerous donations from individuals. NoAFSA membership dues are used in theAFSAScholarship Program. The application deadline is midnight on March 13, 2023. For full details, visit www.afsa.org/scholar. n AFSA High School Essay Contest AFSA is now accepting applications for its annual national high school essay contest. Eligibility. Students whose parents are not in the Foreign Service are eligible to participate if they are in grades nine through 12 anywhere in the United States or U.S. territories, or if they are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents attending high school overseas. Entries from home-schooled students are also accepted. Previous first-place winners and immediate relatives of directors or staff of AFSA, the U.S. Institute of Peace, Semester at Sea, and National Student Leadership Conference are not eligible to participate. Previ- ous honorable mention designees may enter. Prizes. $2,500 to the writer of the winning essay, in addi- tion to a paid trip to the nation’s capital from anywhere in the United States for the writer and parents, and an all-expense- paid educational voyage courtesy of Semester at Sea. The runner-up receives $1,250 and a full tuition scholar- ship to attend a summer session of the National Student Leadership Conference’s International Diplomacy program. The application deadline is midnight on April 3, 2023. Learn more about the contest, including the essay topic, at www.afsa.org/essay-contest. n The AFSA Memorial Plaques restoration project was completed in December 2022.