The Foreign Service Journal - December 2017

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2017 17 T he death of Gustav Hertz in Viet Cong captivity brings a poignant reminder that a total of 13 AID officers have lost their lives in Vietnam. Statistically the number is small in relation to the sacrifices made by our military men and is not to be compared to the sufferings endured by the Vietnamese civilian population. Yet there is a particular pathos in the thought of unarmed non- combatants losing their lives thousands of miles from home. We think the families and friends of our fallen fighting men will understand our calling special attention in this Journal to the losses of our AID associates. In doing so, we remember again that another officer serving with AID is still held prisoner by the Viet Cong, virtually incommunicado and enduring unknown hardships for endless months since being kidnapped in January 1966. We honor them, the prisoners, the dead, and their colleagues who risk a similar fate every day in the pursuit of an epic national effort. We draw strength from the example they have set for us. — Excerpted from an editorial of the same title in the December 1967 Foreign Service Journal. 50 Years Ago A Poignant Reminder the application process if they hope to find work at USAID. According to another Devex story, when pressed about the decision at a Nov. 1 House Appropriations Subcom- mittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs hearing, USAID Administrator Mark Green told Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.): “We have not eliminated positions. We are still under a hiring freeze. …Before I arrived at this position, we had asked for an exception for that class that was involved, and it was denied.” Lowey stated that she is “extremely concerned” about the decision, saying “I have been working on these programs a long time. I have never experienced anything like this.” Former Secretaries of State School Haley I n October, when two former Secretaries of State took the stage with current U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, both took the opportunity to speak about the importance of diplomacy. The panel discussion on American leadership, which was sponsored by George W. Bush’s presidential center, was covered in the Oct. 20 edition of The New York Times . Haley, a former governor who had no foreign policy experience when she was selected for the job of ambassador to the United Nations, listened as Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright explained the importance of the State Department budget, with Rice pointing out that the budget goes to support global women’s