The Foreign Service Journal, October 2012

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2012 67 50 outstanding students each year from Columbia’s graduate schools to use their special talents in, for example, journal- ism, business management, medicine or even theology, internationally. Mr. Barton returned to the State Department in 1964 and was posted to Madrid as assistant cultural attaché. Among his accomplishments was an agreement between the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Prado Museum to bring a 12th-century apse from a small mountain village to the Cloisters in New York City. Applauded by then–New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, the agree- ment involved a reciprocal “loan” of some ancient Spanish bronzes to the Prado. In 1966, he was assigned to Santo Domingo as director of human resource development for the U.S. Agency for International Development, but public riots turned into a civil war six months after his arrival. After being evacuated back to Washington, he worked on emer- gency relief until being reassigned as director of human resource development for the Caribbean. By the end of the year he had accepted an offer from USIA to serve as cultural attaché in La Paz. While there he authored a book, A Short History of Bolivia (Editorial Los Amigos del Libro, 1968); but his most vivid memory was having had dinner with the nation’s president the day Che Guevara was cap- tured and killed. Mr. Barton’s next assignment was as public affairs officer in Guadalajara. While there, he completed his master’s degree at the University of Oklahoma. Four years later, he returned to Washing- ton to help organize the State Depart- ment’s Speakers Bureau. In 1973, Mr. Barton joined the Sen- ate Foreign Relations Committee as its Republican adviser. For the next six years “W e are deeply saddened and mourn the tragic loss of Ambassador Chris Stevens, Foreign Service Information Management Specialist Sean Smith and their colleagues in the outrageous and cowardly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi,” AFSA President Susan R. Johnson said in a statement issued on Sept. 12. “We extend our heartfelt con- dolences and sympathy to the families and loved ones of those killed. Their service and example are an inspira- tion to us all.” U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Chris- topher Stephens, 52, a career FSO; Information Management Specialist Sean Smith, 34, an Air Force veteran who joined the Foreign Service a decade ago; Diplomatic Security agent Tyrone S. Woods, a former Navy SEAL who had served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan; and former Navy SEAL Glen Doherty, who was assigned to a State Department security detail were killed when a mob stormed the consulate, setting fire to the buildings, during a protest on Sept. 11. “The violent attack on U.S. diplo- matic compounds once again under- scores the dangers that American dip- lomats face in service to our country,” the AFSA president continued. “AFSA deplores attacks and use of violence against diplomats and diplomatic missions. We oppose intentional efforts to offend religious feelings. We firmly believe in diplo- macy and the commitment to sus- tained dialogue to resolve differences of whatever sort and for better mutual understanding among people of dif- fering faiths, ideologies and cultures.” President Barack Obama ordered flags to be flown at half-mast and further increased security for Ameri- can diplomatic personnel around the world in the wake of the attack. It was the sixth time an American ambas- sador has been killed in the line of duty, the last being Adolph Dubs in Afghanistan in 1979. “I strongly condemn the outra- geous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi,” Pres. Obama said, add- ing that the four men “exemplified America’s commitment to freedom, justice and partnership with nations and people around the globe.” In mourning “those we’ve lost,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton emphasized the dedication of all America’s diplomats. “All over the world, every day, America’s diplomats and development experts risk their lives in the service of our country and our values because they believe that the United States must be a force for peace and progress in the world, and that these aspirations are worth striv- ing and sacrificing for,” Sec. Clinton said. “Alongside our men and women in uniform, they represent the best traditions of a bold and generous nation.” Further tributes to the four dip- lomats will appear in the November Journal . AFSA Mourns the Deaths of American Diplomats in Libya