The Foreign Service Journal, October 2008

One of a Kind I was pleased to see the recent pro- file of Ambassador Thomas D. Boyatt (“A Tireless Advocate for the Foreign Service,” July-August). I had the honor of working for him while serv- ing as a Marine security guard in Bogota from 1981 to 1982. In those days, the M-19 guerilla organization provided the embassy with daily secu- rity challenges and nonstop death threats directed at Amb. Boyatt. He never complained of the additional security we Marines provided. He even carried a nickel-plated .38 cal- iber “Detective Special” and knew how to use it. Embassy Bogota had only one security officer at the time and a few Marine security guards who’d been trained to form a personal protection detail. We rode in the back seat of the trailing car with an Uzi. Trying to retain our balance while facing out the back window and fighting carsick- ness became a routine challenge. Additionally, we provided nightly security patrols at Amb. Boyatt’s resi- dence. We all admired and appreciat- ed his courage, his kindness and his support of the Marine security guard detachment and the security program in general. Everyone knew who ran the embassy, no question. His straight- talking, no-nonsense style, combined with “Monte Carlo” nights, cigars and humor, made Amb. Boyatt truly one of a kind in the Foreign Service. As a fellow southern “Buckeye,” I am proud to have had the opportunity to work with an outstanding example of what President Theodore Roosevelt called the “iron fist in a velvet glove.” E. Alex Copher Information Management Officer Embassy Rangoon The Importance of Dissent I thought the July-August issue was first-rate. The FS Heritage piece, “‘Grace Under Pressure:’ John Paton Davies,” by Bob Rackmales, is an example of Foreign Service Journal writing at its finest: engrossing, evoca- tive of the era and, possibly most important, timely. Who can read this article, includ- ing the sidebar excerpt from Barbara Tuchman’s 1973 address to AFSA, “Why Policy Makers Do Not Listen,” without seeing strong parallels to our invasion of Iraq and the fight against Islamic radicalism? Once again, we have ideologues in power unwilling to accept a reality at odds with their worldview. It would be interesting to debate the question, “Which has done more lasting harm to the vital interests of the U.S.: the isolation of the China hands in the 1950s and the branding of their analysis and reporting as trea- son, or the total rejection by this administration of the State Depart- ment’s “Future of Iraq” project in shaping U.S. policy? Rackmales reminds us of a lesson we never seem to learn: In a democ- racy (or any other form of govern- ment, for that matter), demonizing dissent ensures that the worst ideas, not the best, prevail. Arthur S. Lezin FSO, retired Bend, Ore. The Plane Truth I really enjoyed the July-August FS Heritage article on John Paton Davies. It prompted me to reflect on the institutional dysfunctions that he and his colleagues experienced, and on how little they have changed in the last half century. However, I would like to report two factual errors. First, Davies, Eric Sevareid and their fellow passengers bailed out of a C-46, not a C-47. (The majority of the dangerous flights “over the Hump” were carried out by crews in C-46s.) Second, Rackmales says that the C-46 was “a DC-3 in civilian life,” but this is also incorrect. Curtiss-Wright manufactured the larger C-46 “Com- mando,” first as a passenger aircraft in the late 1930s and then as a freight hauler during World War II. Douglas Aircraft manufactured the smaller DC-3, for which C-47 was the military designation. I have been in both planes and know the difference. 6 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 8 L ETTERS