The Foreign Service Journal, November 2005

Stephen Eric Sullivan , 40, a Diplomatic Security special agent, was killed Sept. 19 in Mosul, when a car bomb destroyed his vehicle. He is the third U.S. diplomat to be killed in the line of duty since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. “Steve Sullivan died in service of his country and for the cause of democracy and freedom. There is no more noble a sacrifice,” Secre- tary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sept. 20. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Steve’s family. We grieve with them in their loss and stand with them at this difficult time.” “This is a loss for Secretary Rice, for me personally, for all of Steve’s colleagues here at the State Depart- ment and in Iraq, and most pro- foundly, for his family,” Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Richard J. Griffin said in an official message. “Special Agent Sullivan’s career exemplified cour- age, bravery and commitment.” Mr. Sullivan was born and raised in Westborough, Mass. A 1983 graduate of Westborough High School, he was a member of the football team. Jan Gebo, his coach, remembers Sullivan fondly as “an American hero … a classy individual and a gentleman — a model citi- zen.” Following high school, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps, serving as a field radio operator. In 1992 he earned a bachelor’s degree in crimi- nal justice from Westfield State College, and the following year joined the Navy, where he served as a hospital corpsman and became a nationally registered emergency medical technician. Sullivan also worked with at-risk youth at the San Diego Job Corps Center and was a residential adviser to children with special needs for the Devereux Foundation in Rutland, Mass. In 2002, while working part-time at the Pepsi Bottling Group, he earn- ed a master’s degree in forensic science. Mr. Sullivan joined the Diplo- matic Security branch of the For- eign Service in 2002. After service in the Miami Field Office, he was posted to Kabul as assistant regional security officer in 2004. Following service in Kabul, he volunteered for the same position in Iraq, and was assigned to Baghdad. He was on temporary duty as acting RSO in Mosul at the time of the tragedy. Survivors include a son, Kraig Robert Sullivan; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Irvine Sullivan of Westborough, Mass.; and two sis- ters, Erin Marie Sullivan and Shauna Grace Oliveri, both of Massachusetts. N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 69 Richard Morton Albaugh , 83, a retired Foreign Service reserve offi- cer, died July 2 in Jasper, Ind., from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He had been at a nursing home there for two and one-half years. During World War II Mr. Albaugh served with the Army in southwestern China. While in Shanghai, he joined the Foreign Service. His subsequent posts included Taiwan, Japan, France, Ethiopia, Norway, Afghanistan and Washington, D.C. He retired in 1976. Following retirement, Mr. Albaugh and his family moved to a farm near the town of Shoals in Martin County, Indiana, that had been in his family since the 1830s. Mr. Albaugh re- stored the homestead, built in 1835, and operated the farm. He also enjoyed traveling and golf. Mr. Albaugh is survived by his wife of 52 years, Kay, who resides on the farm, and three children, Jane Albaugh of Vincennes, Ind., Hough- ton Albaugh of Arlington, Va., and Charles Albaugh of Columbia, Md. Mrs. Frances Blancké , 86, a for- mer employee of the Department of State and the Central Intelligence Agency, and the widow of the late Foreign Service officer and ambas- sador Wilton Wendell Blancké, died July 18 in Washington, D.C., follow- ing a heart attack. Mrs. Blancké was born in the Philippines to American parents. I N M EMORY u Third U.S. Diplomat Killed in Iraq