The Foreign Service Journal, June 2009

50 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 0 9 Attending the ceremony were those personally connected to the honorees, such as Brian Adkins’ supervisor, Paul Cantrell, chief of consular services at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa. Digni- taries in attendance included Acting USAIDAdministrator Alonzo Fulgham, FAS Administrator Michael Michener and Director General of the Foreign Service/Director of Personnel Harry K. Thomas Jr. AFSA board and staff members, including Professional Issues Coordinator Barbara Berger, who or- ganized the ceremony also attended. Also present was consular officer Jason Vorderstrasse, formerly posted to Hong Kong and currently the global af- fairs officer in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Office of Regional and Security Policy Affairs. He has been instrumental not only in bringing diplomats from the past to AFSA’s at- tention but also in doing extensive re- search on their lives and deaths, reflected in the first three of the follow- ing biographical summaries. The honorees were: • Edmund Roberts (July 29, 1784– June 12, 1836) was appointed as a spe- cial agent on Jan. 26, 1832. President Andrew Jackson tasked him to negoti- ate commercial treaties with Muscat, Siam and Cochin China. He success- fully concluded treaties with Siam and Muscat before returning to the U.S. In March 1835, he left on a follow-up mis- sion to Cochin China and Japan. Roberts contracted cholera or dysen- tery and died in Macau on his way to Japan. He is buried in the Old Protes- tant Cemetery in Macau. • ThomasWaldron (May 21, 1814– Sept. 8, 1844) was appointed as the first U.S. consul to Hong Kong on July 21, 1843. This was a recess appointment, and he was later confirmed by the Sen- ate on May 17, 1844. Waldron arrived in Hong Kong in early February 1844. While in Macau on an official visit in September 1844, he died of cholera. He is buried in the Old Protestant Ceme- tery in Macau. • Felix Russell (“Russ”) Engdahl (July 28, 1907–May 14, 1942) joined the Foreign Service on Dec. 16, 1930. After serving as vice consul in Port-au-Prince and Calcutta, Engdahl took up an as- signment in Shanghai in October 1935. He was promoted to consul onApril 26, 1937. In late 1941 he traveled to Hong Kong on courier duty, and was still there on Dec. 7, 1941. He was captured by the Japanese not long after the fall of Hong Kong later that month, along with several other members of the For- eign Service. Engdahl died in an in- ternment camp on May 14, 1942, approximately six weeks before most Americans in the camp (including all other members of the Foreign Service) were repatriated. He is interred in the Stanley Military Cemetery in Hong Kong. (Read more about Engdahl in Jason Vorderstrasse’s article on p. 27 in this issue.) • BrianDanielAdkins (Feb. 2, 1983– Jan. 31, 2009) was serving as a consular officer at Embassy Addis Ababa, his first overseas assignment, when he was found murdered in his residence earlier this year, shortly before his 26th birthday. Adkins, a native of Columbus, Ohio, won a four-year scholarship to The GeorgeWashingtonUniversity inWash- ington, D.C., where he also attended graduate school, graduating summa cum laude. He was a skilled linguist who spoke seven languages. Fellow A-100 classmate Meagan Call, one of many friends who attended the ceremony, remembers him as “the most cheerful —and hilarious — per- son in the whole 135th class.” Another classmate,MatthewBuffing- ton, met Adkins when they were both Pickering Fellows. “He took his role in the Foreign Service very seriously,” re- calls Buffington, who has fond memo- ries of Adkins “sitting in the cafeteria with his Amharic flash cards.” (See the Appreciation for Brian Adkins, “A Life Dedicated to Service,” in the May FSJ .) This year marks the 76th anniver- sary of the creation of the AFSA Me- morial Plaques. The first plaque was unveiled onMarch 3, 1933, by Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson at the en- trance to what is now the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House to honor Foreign Service colleagues who lost their lives overseas. When first created, the AFSA Plaque was inscribed with 65 names represent- ing more than 150 years of history. Since then, an additional 166 names have been inscribed, commemorating the deaths of 231 honorees in 70 differ- ent countries. In 2000, in cooperation with the As- sociates of the American Foreign Serv- iceWorldwide, AFSA established a new type of plaque that honors Foreign Service family members who have died abroad. Every year, during the AFSA Memorial Plaques Ceremony, a wreath is also placed at that site, located on the other side of the State Department lobby, to recognize the sacrifices made by those who accompanied their spouse or parent overseas. Later in the day, AFSA welcomed retirees and other Foreign Affairs Day guests to a reception at the newly ren- ovated AFSA headquarters, organized by Retiree Coordinator Bonnie Brown. Amb. Ed Dillery, chairman of the AFSA Scholarship Committee, pre- sented merit scholarship awards with assistance from AFSA President John Naland and Scholarship Director Lori Dec. Full coverage of AFSA’s merit scholars will appear in the July-August FSJ . A F S A N E W S Foreign Affairs Day • Continued from page 43 The AFSA Memorial Plaque, with four new names, after the ceremony on May 1. MIKKELA THOMPSON