Foreign Service

In greeting new Secretary of State John Kerry, members of the Foreign Service were welcoming one of their own. They hope his arrival at Foggy Bottom will mark new understanding of - and support for - the work they do around the world. "As the son of a diplomat and as a member of the U.S. Senate deeply involved with American diplomacy over many decades, you bring to this office a unique perspective and understanding of politics and diplomacy and the importance of a professional career Foreign Service as the backbone of U.S. diplomacy and of the Department of State," Susan R. Johnson, president of the American Foreign Service Association, told Kerry last week during a welcoming ceremony.

In greeting new Secretary of State John Kerry, members of the Foreign Service were welcoming one of their own. They hope his arrival at Foggy Bottom will mark new understanding of - and support for - the work they do around the world. "As the son of a diplomat and as a member of the U.S. Senate deeply involved with American diplomacy over many decades, you bring to this office a unique perspective and understanding of politics and diplomacy and the importance of a professional career Foreign Service as the backbone of U.S. diplomacy and of the Department of State," Susan R. Johnson, president of the American Foreign Service Association, told Kerry last week during a welcoming ceremony.

ALL last week, the foreign service officer establishment was huffing indignantly at the way political appointees of George Bush had abused State Department procedures. Lusting to find dirt in Bill Clinton's passport files, these pols ran roughshod over foreign service professionals. "Heinous," cried Acting Secretary Larry Eagleburger, long the department's ranking FSO.Yes, James Baker and his aides had guilty knowledge of an improper search. Frankly, to expect a campaign chief to call off a search for a document that would have changed the result of an election is to presume a degree of ethical purity rare in politics, but let us stipulate that State's political appointees abused their governmental power.

Christopher Van Hollen Sr., a retired Foreign Service officer and ambassador to Sri Lanka, died of Alzheimer's disease complications Jan. 30 at the Washington Home and Hospice. The former Baltimore resident was 90. Born in Baltimore and raised in Cedarcroft, he was the grandson of George Henry Van Hollen, a seafood packer and owner of the Atlantic Packing Co. The family also developed the Cedarcroft section of North Baltimore and lent its name to Hollen Road. His father, Donald Van Hollen, was a Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. employee who later worked at the family's seafood business.

The entire U.S. diplomatic corps is about 119 times smaller than the active-duty military and could comfortably fit inside Baltimore's 1st Mariner Arena, leaving a few thousand seats open. America's capacity for "soft power" -- winning friends through diplomacy and without coercion -- is small compared to its capacity to wage war. A series of reports this year -- some released, others expected this month -- are calling on Congress to increase the size of the 11,500-member foreign service to fight ideas, rather than states or terrorist groups.

For those with the blues about Baltimore youth, Kia J. Coleman comes as a tonic.Just check out a bit of what the poised 20-year-old has accomplished since graduating from Western High School in 1993. To wit, Ms. Coleman has:* Compiled a straight-A average at Vassar College.* Been elected president of her freshman and sophomore college classes.* Spent a summer living with a family in Shirotori, Japan.* Gained admission to Oxford University in England for her junior year.* Made the most difficult choice of her young life.

Bert C. Moore, 65, a foreign service officer who was one of the 52 Americans held hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Iran from 1979 to 1981, died of cancer Thursday in Homosassa, Fla. During his foreign service career, he served in Washington and at U.S. embassies and consulates in Canada, Rhodesia, Malawi, France, Zaire, Iran, Spain, Nigeria, Indonesia and India.

Stanley Woodward Sr., 93, the American ambassador to Canada in the Truman administration, died Aug. 17 at his home in Washington. He was a foreign service officer in Europe and Haiti from the mid-1920s to the mid-1930s before returning to Philadelphia as commissioner of Fairmount Park. He returned to the foreign service in 1937, serving first as assistant chief of protocol and then as chief of protocol at the State Department until his appointment as ambassador in 1950. After leaving the Foreign Service in 1953, he founded the Woodward Foundation, which was involved in expanding educational opportunities and offering college scholarships to students in the Washington public schools.

Employees of the U.S. State Department who work abroad are members of the Foreign Service. Or at least the State Department capitalizes Foreign Service . But many journalists do not. And the Associated Press Stylebook  has no entry expressing a preference. As the stylebook editors know, I'm easy. Decide that capitalization merely represents bureaucratic mania for uppercasing as much as possible, and I'm cool with lowercase. Decide that the Foreign Service is a formal division of government deservedly entitled to the dignity of capital letters, and I will fall into line.

Warren Zimmermann, 69, the last U.S. ambassador to Yugoslavia before its breakup and civil war, died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer in Great Falls, Va. A career Foreign Service officer, he was named in 1989 as ambassador to Yugoslavia, where he led efforts to keep the nation together. He resigned from the Foreign Service in 1994 over what he felt was President Bill Clinton's refusal to intervene forcefully in the Bosnia war. After leaving the Foreign Service, he taught at the Johns Hopkins University School of international affairs and Columbia University.

W. Kennedy Cromwell III, a retired foreign service officer who spent the majority of his 32-year career in Africa, died Dec. 13 from complications of a stroke at the Fairhaven retirement community in Sykesville. The former Washington and Annapolis resident was 88. The son of a stockbroker and a homemaker, William Kennedy Cromwell III — he never used his first name, family members said — was born in Baltimore and raised on Brightside Road in Ruxton. He was also descended from Oliver Cromwell, the English political figure who was lord protector of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland from 1653 to 1658.

Employees of the U.S. State Department who work abroad are members of the Foreign Service. Or at least the State Department capitalizes Foreign Service . But many journalists do not. And the Associated Press Stylebook  has no entry expressing a preference. As the stylebook editors know, I'm easy. Decide that capitalization merely represents bureaucratic mania for uppercasing as much as possible, and I'm cool with lowercase. Decide that the Foreign Service is a formal division of government deservedly entitled to the dignity of capital letters, and I will fall into line.

Kelly Dalla Tezza, a Fulbright scholar who planned a career in the U.S. Foreign Service, died Friday in an automobile accident in Morocco. She was 22 and lived in Parkville. Family members said she had a flat tire while driving on a road near Rabat and lost control of the vehicle. "She was the most fearless person I have ever known," said a close friend, Ashleen Williams of Bahrain, who is also a Fulbright scholar. "She was willing to go anywhere and do pretty much anything.

KAREN L. OTTO (Brzuchalski), 56, of Miles City, MT, and Reno, NV, died January 31, 2008, at the Billings Clinic in Billings, MT. Karen was born Nov. 7, 1951, in Baltimore, MD; the daughter of Melvin and Florence (Ordakowski) Brzuchalski. Raised in a large and loving Polish family, she attended parochial schools in Glen Burnie, MD and the University of Maryland in Baltimore. Karen had a long and illustrious career with the U.S. Government including stints with the Internal Revenue Service, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, and the U. S. Foreign Service (USAID)

ELIZABETH JULIAN WHITE, former English and French teacher and the last of six siblings who made contributions in the fields of education, science, medicine, foreign service and vocational rehabilitation, died Sunday, December 30, 2007 at her home in Baltimore of age-related natural causes. She was 96. In addition to her devoted daughter Betty McLemore Stuckey, survivors include her loyal niece Faith R. Julian of Oak Park, Illinois and other loving nieces, nephews, relatives and good friends in Baltimore.

The entire U.S. diplomatic corps is about 119 times smaller than the active-duty military and could comfortably fit inside Baltimore's 1st Mariner Arena, leaving a few thousand seats open. America's capacity for "soft power" -- winning friends through diplomacy and without coercion -- is small compared to its capacity to wage war. A series of reports this year -- some released, others expected this month -- are calling on Congress to increase the size of the 11,500-member foreign service to fight ideas, rather than states or terrorist groups.

Guy F. Stark, a retired electrical engineer who later served with the U.S. Foreign Service, died of a stroke Monday at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis. He was 88. A resident of Gibson Island for more than 40 years, Mr. Stark retired in 1965 from the Foreign Service, where he had served for 15 years as an industrial adviser to the Republic of China and Indochina. Mr. Stark, who had held similar diplomatic posts in Europe, North Africa and Australia, had also been the U.S. representative to the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East.

Plentywood, Mont. -- Dave Grimland spent nearly 30 years as a Foreign Service officer -- "telling the U.S. side of the story," he says -- in Bangladesh, India, Cyprus, Turkey and other nations with large Muslim populations. He wrote ambassadors' speeches, arranged cultural gatherings, and more than once hunkered down as angry mobs gathered outside the embassy to protest American policy. Now retired and living in rural Montana, Grimland is once again telling a side of the story -- only this time, in quiet pockets of the Big Sky State, he's trying to tell the Muslim side to non-Muslim Americans.

Dr. Gordon G. Heiner III, a retired Towson ophthalmologist who earlier had been a Foreign Service officer and reporter, died of cancer Friday at his home in the Charlesbrook neighborhood of Baltimore County. He was 81. Born in West Point, N.Y., the son of a career military officer, Dr. Heiner was raised at several military installations around the country and graduated in 1940 from Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, N.H. He was 16 when he began his college studies at Harvard University, and after completing ROTC training, he enlisted in the Army in 1943.