THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2025 11 Yet another message cited the importance of our work in development and diplomatic “soft power”: “We all thought we were spending our lives making the world a better place, and we did. It is heartbreaking seeing it unravel in this fashion and so quickly. We must hope that our passion for service and internationalism passes down to the next generations and they carry the flame for us.” The survivors of the Nairobi and Dar bombings haven’t forgotten that traumatic, tragic day, August 7, 1998. As one person put it, “The years move on, but some moments stay lodged in the soul. This is one of them.” John E. Lange Ambassador, retired Vienna, Virginia I Hope It Never Happens to You Before Augusto Pinochet lost the 1988 plebiscite in Chile, forcing an election after 17 years of military dictatorship, media organizations were still under the thumb of his henchmen, and fear was rampant about bucking the government in any way. Journalists’ houses were burned, they were threatened, their cars were vandalized, television news stations went “black,” and radio towers were knocked over. Ambassador Harry Barnes insisted that we in the U.S. Information Service (USIS) were to make visitations to beleaguered media organizations up and down the country, and he expected trip reports each time. Those trips were the embassy’s show of support for free media. I would like to think that journalists took courage from our visits, and gradually a “NO” campaign opposing Pinochet’s continued dictatorship came together, and he was voted out. Leading up to the democratic vote,
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