The Foreign Service Journal - November 2017

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2017 11 government coordinates on illegal mining, forestry and water security issues. This creates a unified message when working with our Peruvian counterparts and has led to some major successes. Among them are a memorandum of understanding with the government of Peru on illegal mining, establishment of the first-ever electronic timber tracking system and development of a new forestry and wildlife law, among others. Please don’t forget about the great work USAID does to contribute to the U.S. government’s foreign policy. Gina Cady FSO Deputy Director for Bilateral Environment Program USAID/Peru Setting the Record Straight Recently, and for the first time, I read the letter about me by Harrison Sherwood that was published in the January-Feb- ruary 2016 Journal . In one paragraph, h e describes an action by me that never took place.* This situation is not unusual for me: I have seen stories which said I was beaten with rifle butts, thrown down a flight of stairs by Congolese soldiers, saved the life of the U.S. ambassador and, of course, saved Frank Carlucci’s life. I keep on cor- recting, but the legends go on. I will now correct the record for Journal readers. As described in my autobiogra- phy, Diplomat and Priest (CreateSpace, 2015), the Carlucci event took place on a Sunday morning on a four-lane modern highway leading from Leopoldville to the airport. There were no soldiers, no rebel camp, nobody but local villagers who lived near the highway. It was 1960, a time of political upheaval and conflict following Congo’s independence.