The Foreign Service Journal, November 2005

duly referred to the “transfer of Mr. Gordon Paddock from the Consular Service to be [a second secretary] in the Diplomatic Service,” and said: “In accordance with your letter I have signed the executive order making pos- sible his transfer and have forwarded his nomination to the Senate. I hope, after Mr. Paddock’s nomination is con- firmed, that friendly consideration will be given to him in making his assign- ment. Apparently he has rendered a long and faithful service without oppor- tunity for any showing in the making of a record, and I would like his fidelity to find a way open to reward if such a thing is possible.” A Tale of Woe Once admitted to the Diplomatic Service, Paddock reportedly requested assignment to Paris but was, instead, assigned to Belgrade. But what pre- occupied him most upon his return to Washington was the question of reimbursement for his travel back from Tabriz. (He had reached the United States on the S.S. Olympic on March 22, 1922. Because he had returned on “leave of absence” rather than home leave, he was not automatically entitled to reimburse- ment for his transportation expens- es.) His first recorded meeting at the Department of State was on Aug. 4, after which he wrote the following letter to Wilbur J. Carr, director of Consular Services: “You were kind enough yesterday to say that I might give you a memo- randum regarding the question of my transportation from Persia. “I understood you to say that it depends on whether my request for permission to come to America and the authorization to do so are on record in such form as to make it impossible to overcome the techni- cal obstacles that I have returned ‘on leave of absence;’ in spite of the fact that I have been transferred to another branch of the service and assigned to the department. While I fear there can be little question about the form of my original appli- cation and the department’s reply, the circumstances under which I left Persia and came here are such, I believe, as to permit me to hope that I may not be deprived of transporta- tion through a technicality. “In support of this I mention the following: “1. I have been absent from America in foreign service in distant countries for over 20 years, during which time I never asked for leave of absence, transfer or other privileges. “2. I served for 11 years in Persia, of which 10 were in Tabriz, where conditions were such as to impose a really serious strain on one’s physical and nervous condition. In 1918, I was forced on the Turkish occupa- tion of Tabriz to withdraw the con- sulate to Kazvin for seven months, and while there was requested by Dr. H.P. Judson (acting — as I was given to understand — with the approval of the department) to orga- nize relief work of the American- Persian Relief Commission on my return to Tabriz. This proved to be a very considerable undertaking, which demanded a good deal of my attention in an advisory way for sev- eral months, and made it impossible for me to return — as had been my intention — to America at that time. The route via the Caucasus was then open and comparatively direct and inexpensive. “In the spring of 1919, conditions at Tabriz, where I had returned in January, again became disturbed and Christians at the American mission at Urmia were massacred and the mission property looted. I was instructed by the department to open an official investigation of this affair, which again made it impossi- ble for me to leave Tabriz. In the spring of 1920, a combined Bolshe- vik and Turkish invasion of north- west Persia was threatened and the following summer and autumn, the situation became so serious that all the foreign colonies evacuated Tabriz. “On Dec. 14, 1920, the situation was such as to warrant my withdraw- al to Tehran, where, on my arrival, I found all European families were preparing for immediate withdrawal. The British had given notice of with- drawal of their forces from Persia, and it was generally supposed that a Bolshevik force then at Resht would occupy Tehran. Under these condi- tions I arranged that my wife should accompany the family of the American minister to France, but that I should remain with the minis- ter as long as I could be of service. I then applied for leave to return to America, which appeared to be the only logical thing to do in case I were compelled to leave Tehran and Persia, and in view of the fact that I was away from and could not return to my post at Tabriz. I did not at that time know of the regulations as to transportation when on leave, but supposed that if upon my arrival in America I were transferred to anoth- er post, I should at least receive transportation between Tehran and such post. “3. As the Bolshevik invasion did not materialize, it was unnecessary for me to leave Persia, but I could 64 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 5 Paddock covered himself with glory in his negotiations with the governor.