The Foreign Service Journal, December 2004

Alton George Adams , 86, retired FSO, died Sept. 17 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Born in 1918 in Golden City, Mo., he graduated from Webb City High School in 1936. In September 1941 he enlisted in the Naval Reserve and began active duty in the Navy, where he was assigned to the Office of Special Services, in January 1942. He was honorably discharged in 1945, with citations for perfor- mance of “exceptional and valuable service beyond the call of duty” and “conspicuously meritorious and out- standing performance of military duties.” Mr. Adams attended the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, before graduating from The George Washington University in 1951 with a degree in government and foreign affairs. He subsequent- ly completed specialized training in African affairs at Oxford University in England. In 1946, Mr. Adams began his Foreign Service career. During his years with the Department of State and the Agency for International Development, he and his family lived in Ethiopia, Paraguay, Sudan, Liberia, Somalia, Ecuador, Sierra Leone and Kenya, and traveled extensively in Europe. After his retirement, Mr. Adams continued to work with USAID as an internation- al contractor/negotiator in Africa, Panama and the Philippines. He is survived by four daughters from his first marriage (to Laurel Adams in 1941): Elizabeth Judd, Margaret Adams, Cynthia Lewis and Paula Consaul; five grandchil- 66 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 4 I N M EMORY Edward J. Seitz , 41, assistant regional security officer at Embassy Baghdad, was killed Oct. 24 in a rocket attack at Camp Victory, the American base adjacent to Baghdad International Airport. A 16-year veteran of the Foreign Service, Diplomatic Security Special Agent Seitz is the first American diplomatic employee killed in Iraq. “The Department of State and I mourn the loss of one of our own today in Baghdad,” said Secretary of State Colin Powell from Beijing. “Ed’s death is a tragic loss for me personally, and for all of his colleagues at the Department of State. Our thoughts and prayers are with Ed’s family. We grieve with them in their loss, and will stand with them as they deal with this tragedy. Ed Seitz died in the service of his country and for the cause of lib- erty and freedom for others. There is no more noble a sacrifice.” Ed Seitz joined the Bureau of Diplomatic Security in 1988, and has served in Washington, Chicago, Detroit, Shenyang and Sanaa. He had been posted in Baghdad for three months. Prior to the Iraq assignment, Sietz spent four years in Detroit as an investigator with the FBI’s joint terrorism task force. In 1999, the State Department honored him for his response to the bombing of Embassy Nairobi. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Seitz was a police officer in Cleveland, Ohio. “Ed was a career law enforcement officer, and epitomized the best of our bureau,” Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Francis X. Taylor and Director of Diplomatic Security Joe Morton said in a joint statement. “He will be remembered as a man of enormous generosity — one who was always thinking of others first. It is this very characteristic that led him to accept this dangerous assignment in Camp Victory, outside of the Green Zone.” Patrick Quigley, a former FSO and A-100 classmate who trained with Ed Seitz in South Georgia when they both started in Diplomatic Security, described him as a dedicated agent who loved what he did, took his job seri- ously and had “a heart of gold.” Quigley reflected, “He’s one of the few people I could say lacked malice toward others.” “We are deeply saddened by the death of State Department Special Agent Edward Seitz, who was killed in a rocket attack Oct. 24 in Iraq,” John W. Limbert, president of the American Foreign Service Association, said. “On behalf of all his colleagues, I extend my heartfelt condolences and prayers to Mr. Seitz’s family.” Mr. Seitz leaves behind his wife Joyce of St. Claire Shores, Mich.; his par- ents, Elroy and Alba; and his brother, Bill. The Seitz family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Edward J. Seitz Memorial Fund, c/o Charter One Bank, 8471 Chippewa Road, Brecksville OH 44141. The fund will provide academic scholarships to children of law enforcement officers and assist families of officers killed in the line of duty. I RAQ C LAIMS F IRST F OREIGN S ERVICE C ASUALTY