Contributions by Louisianans in the Foreign Service

Harry H. Kendall grew up on a dairy farm near Lake Charles and served as a U.S. Army radio operator in World War II with the famed “Flying Tiger” squadron in Kunming, China. He studied journalism at Louisiana State University on the GI Bill and was recruited by the Institute of International Education which later became the U.S. Information Agency. He promoted understanding of America in Venezuela, Japan, Spain, Panama, Chile, and Vietnam. His full story is here.

Born in New Orleans, Doris Virginia Metcalf joined the Foreign Service in 1943, and, after working briefly in cryptography, was posted to Istanbul in the midst of World War II, where she helped American POWs released from Bulgaria. Read her story here.

After growing up in Shreveport, Robert B. Oakley volunteered for the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. He served in Japan, then returned to study at Tulane University and joined the Foreign Service in 1957. His career included appointments as U.S. Ambassador to Zaire, Somalia, and Pakistan. As State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism, he warned about the dangers of Oliver North’s Iran-Contra scheme. After retirement, Oakley was called back to serve as Special Envoy for Somalia and helped re-craft policy in the wake of the Battle of Mogadishu. Read his oral history here.

Born and raised in Columbia, Louisiana, Dr. William E. Reed was one of the early pioneers of U.S. agricultural development assistance, including landmark soil studies in 1940s Liberia, water conservation work in 1950s Ghana, and land and water development in Nigeria in the 1960s. Read his oral history.

After spending much of his childhood in Louisiana, John B. Ratliff III joined the U.S. Army and served in Japan in the 1950s. In the 1960s and 70s, he held leadership positions at the Foreign Service Institute’s Japanese language program in Tokyo and Vietnamese language program in Bangkok, directing the training of thousands of diplomats in critical language skills. His full story is here.

Born and raised in 1940s New Orleans, Elmore F. Rigamer went to Liberia as the Peace Corps’ first psychologist volunteer and later became the State Department’s first psychologist posted overseas in Kabul. He was influential in improving efforts to support Foreign Service families and children overseas. His oral history is in ADST’s online collection.

Born in New Orleans, Peter S. Bridges joined the Foreign Service in 1957 and found himself immediately immersed in Cold War intrigue at the State Department as he worked on the expulsion of an officer from the Soviet Embassy who was recruiting spies. As Deputy Chief of Mission in Rome, he coordinated with the Italian government in securing the release of U.S. Army General James Dozier, kidnapped by Red Brigades terrorists. Bridges went on to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Somalia. Read his oral history here.

Ann Michelle Deney O’Connor was born in Baton Rouge and served at the U.S. Embassy in Kenya. On August 7, 1998, she was one of 12 Americans and more than 200 others who were killed in Al Qaeda’s bombing of our embassy in Nairobi.