'Never so glad to see the American flag': Foreign Service risk it all for their country

What is the most dangerous civilian occupation in America?

At the top of my and most people’s list would be a first responder who carries a weapon. Those law enforcement officers would be followed closely by  positions that involve dealing with fire and explosives.

Right behind those occupations, I would argue, would be serving as a member of the United States Foreign Service — : the professional, nonpartisan diplomatic corps in which I served for over three decades. It represents America at embassies around the globe and is celebrating its 100th anniversary in this month of May.

While the popular image of a diplomat’s life might be of attending fancy receptions, the reality is that terrorism and regional conflicts have become a constant threat for Foreign Service personnel everywhere, with constant danger and significant loss of life. Consider that in recent decades:

• Seven American ambassadors have been assassinated.

• American embassies in Kenya, Tanzania and Lebanon were blown up with large numbers of American and local Foreign Service National employees killed and wounded.

• Over 50 American Embassy staff, including Iowa-born Foreign Service Officer Kathryn Koob, spent 444 days held hostage by the Revolutionary Guards in Iran.

• In the Philippines where as deputy ambassador I was targeted for assassination, 10 other official Americans were killed in terrorist attacks while traveling in their cars. The most dangerous thing every Foreign Service Officer and I did each day was to drive to and from work.

Indeed, during my 32-year career, I was shot at in Gaza, blown up in Cambodia, wounded in Vietnam or under death threat in every foreign assignment I had. My family endured these same risks. When my ambassadorial residence in Cambodia was struck by a rocket and then, like a mass shooting, ringed in automatic weapons fire, my wife and I covered our three children with our bodies to protect them. On that occasion, our prayers were answered and no one was harmed.

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This danger to diplomats dates to the earliest days of our Republic. Like the U.S. Marine Corps, American diplomacy began in November of 1775, even before the Declaration of Independence. At that time, the Second Continental Congress formed the Committees of Secret Correspondence to seek support from countries in Europe for our struggle to achieve independence.

The names of over 300 Foreign Service personnel who have lost their lives in service to our country since then are inscribed on two large black marble plaques visible as you enter the State Department  in Washington. The first name on the plaque is that of William Palfrey, who was “lost at sea” in 1780. I want to especially note the names of over 30 Foreign Service officers who were killed in the Vietnam War.

During my own six years in the war zone as a civilian Foreign Service officer, I was wounded in a 122 mm rocket attack and also exposed to Agent Orange, for which I have suffered significant ongoing lung impairment all of my life.

While American diplomats were initially a select group of well-connected male officers largely drawn from elite East Coast educational institutions, on May 24, 1924, the Congress passed the Rogers Act, establishing a professional Foreign Service to represent America abroad. Over the next 10 decades, the recruitment of Foreign Service officers was gradually diversified, particularly through the introduction of an extremely difficult entrance exam that would winnow down the approximately 15,000 applicants each year to the several hundred who would be hired.

That merit-based testing process allowed someone with an obscure background like me — a graduate of Loras College in my hometown of Dubuque — to successfully compete against all those with Ivy League diplomas. More recently, the enhanced recruitment of women and persons of color have made the Foreign Service more representative of the country as a whole.

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Today, this corps of about 15,600 Americans serve our country at 271 embassies and consulates in 173 countries as well as at 11 missions to international organizations. In addition to filling State Department positions, the Foreign Service also includes specialists from the Foreign Agricultural Service at USDA, the Foreign Commercial Service of the Department of Commerce, and rural development advisers of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

What all these members of the Foreign Service share in common are: a dedication to advancing the foreign policy objectives of our country as defined by our elected political leaders, and a willingness to endure the extraordinary dangers that they and their families face from terrorists and threats to their health from exotic diseases.

Protecting American citizens is the most important role that these Foreign Service personnel perform. Ambassador Terry Branstad spoke proudly about how, under his direction, the career Foreign Service staff at his embassy in Beijing had facilitated the departure of thousands of American citizens from China during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, career Foreign Service officers at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing warned agencies in Washington about technical security deficiencies at the Chinese Institute of Virology in Wuhan, believed by many to be the origin of the pandemic.

Another Iowa career Foreign Service Officer,  Nancy Powell of Cedar Falls, compiled a distinguished diplomatic career, serving as American ambassador in Uganda, Ghana, Nepal, Pakistan and India. In addition, she coordinated the U.S. government’s highly effective international response to two very significant pandemic diseases — avian flu and Ebola.

During civil war in Cambodia where I was serving as ambassador, since we had no Marine security guards, I personally drove into an active combat zone with only the American flag flying on my ambassadorial car for protection, in order to rescue a group of Mormon missionaries, who were trapped by the fighting and desperately pleading for help. When I arrived at their compound, the head of that religious group said that he “was never so glad to see the American flag.” Another individual said “Now I know what it means to be an American.”

Other significant achievements by career Foreign Service Officers at my embassy in Cambodia included: breaking up an international drug trafficking ring, capturing the highest ranking North Korean terrorist ever apprehended; risking their lives to protect a human rights activist; and eradicating the remaining elements of the Khmer Rouge — the worst genocidal, mass-murdering terrorist organization of the second half of the 20th century.

This May 24, as the Foreign Service celebrates its 100th birthday, my hope is that you will reflect on the achievements and the sacrifices that these little recognized Americans have made to protect our country and their fellow citizens from foreign threats.

Ken Quinn served as a Foreign Service Officer in the U.S. State Department for 32 years, followed by two decades as President of the World Food Prize Foundation.  

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: American heroes: Foreign Service endures a century of danger abroad