THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2024 77 AFSA NEWS Embassy Paramaribo Honors Fallen Diplomats, Best Practice for Missions Worldwide Near Post 1, just outside the hardline of Embassy Paramaribo’s beautiful chancery building that opened in 2016, is a memorial plaque positioned in a prominent place on the wall honoring Henry Sawyer and Osmon E. Henryson. Dedicated on May 5, 2023—Foreign Service Day—by U.S. Ambassador to Suriname Robert J. Faucher, the plaque serves as a permanent reminder of the ultimate sacrifice made by Sawyer and Henryson, Foreign Service personnel who both perished on duty while in Suriname, in 1877 and 1944, respectively. Henry Sawyer began serving as the U.S. consul in Paramaribo in 1858. His actions in support of the Union cause during the American Civil War were notable, including facilitating the enlisting of 123 Surinamese into the Union Army and alerting the Union Navy of the presence of a Confederate ship that had come for supplies to Paramaribo. He also played a prominent role in formulating a plan (that never came to fruition) for the migration of freed African Americans to Suriname. Sawyer was reportedly injured by a “ruffianly sailor”—most likely an American—whom Sawyer had to detain as part of his duties as U.S. consul. He later died because of these injuries. He is also honored on the AFSA Memorial Plaques at the State Department. Osmon E. Henryson entered the Foreign Service in July 1942 and was on a plane that crashed east of Paramaribo, killing all 35 on board. It was the worst loss of life in a Western Hemispheric aviation accident up to that time. Secretary of State Cordell Hull called Henryson the first State Department casualty of the Second World War. Henryson is also honored on the AFSA Virtual Memorial Plaque. At the dedication ceremony, embassy staff held a moment of silence for Sawyer and Henryson as well as all Foreign Service personnel who lost their lives on duty overseas. The plaque was also the site for this year’s Foreign Service Day commemoration and moment of silence. “Having this plaque placed here was something I’d been thinking about even before my arrival here,” Ambassador Faucher said. “It’s not only a wonderful way for the current staff to remember those that came before them and the sacrifices that were made, but it serves to remind everyone that comes to our embassy, whether it’s our staff every day or one-time visitors, of the long, historic connections between the United States and Suriname.” Ambassador Faucher continued, with input for other U.S. missions: “The response to the plaque has been uniformly positive, so I would strongly encourage other posts with similar stories to consider doing something along the lines of what we did.” AFSA Governing Board member Kimberly Harrington visited the plaque at Embassy Paramaribo and sees this as a “best practice” for posts to honor those who have died while in service to the United States overseas, as well as a complementary effort to AFSA’s Memorial Plaques in the C Street lobby. n Deputy Chief of Mission Priyadarshi Sen (a former FSJ Editorial Board member) and Consular Chief Marc Melino stand before the Embassy Paramaribo memorial plaque for a moment of silence during Foreign Service Day, May 3, 2024. AFSA Governing Board member Kim Harrington visited the plaque in June 2024. U.S. EMBASSY PARAMARIBO COURTESY OF KIMBERLY HARRINGTON
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