One of the most contentious events in mass migration started on April 1, 1980 when several Cubans took control of a bus and drove it through a fence of the Peruvian embassy in Havana; they requested – and were granted — political asylum. After Fidel Castro retaliated by having the Cuban guards protecting the embassy… Read More "A Flood of Cuban Migrants — The Mariel Boatlift, April-October 1980"
“There were no full bodies” – The Crash of Pan Am Flight 812 in Bali
On April 22, 1974, Pan American Flight 812, a plane known as the Clipper Climax, crashed into the mountainous terrain of Denpasar, Bali, claiming the lives of all 96 passengers and 11 crew members on board, including 26 Americans and 29 Japanese. En route from Hong Kong to Sydney, Australia, with a stop in Denpasar,… Read More "“There were no full bodies” – The Crash of Pan Am Flight 812 in Bali"
Get Your Cameras Ready: Celebrities in the Embassies
While the work at embassies can often put Foreign Service officers in harm’s way, on occasion they have the chance to rub elbows with the rich and famous. That could range from helping the niece of a famous actor get a passport, arranging a meeting between a diplomatic rock star and George Harrison or, in a… Read More "Get Your Cameras Ready: Celebrities in the Embassies"
The Light at the End of the Tunnel — Surviving a Nazi POW Camp
Fredrick Irving’s plane was shot down over Magyarovar, Hungary during World War II. Right after hitting the ground, three Hungarian farmers tried several times to execute him; on the final attempt, it was only the intervention of German soldiers, who wanted Irving as a POW, that saved him. He was then interrogated by an American who had… Read More "The Light at the End of the Tunnel — Surviving a Nazi POW Camp"
From Nation-Building to Black Hawk Down: U.S. Peacekeeping in Somalia
Somalia has become synonymous with well-meaning but ill-fated humanitarian intervention. Live television footage of American soldiers being dragged in the streets by the very insurgents they hoped to defeat in the Black Hawk down incident disillusioned Americans from the concept of nation-building abroad. Many credit the U.S.’s embarrassment in Somalia to the international community’s failure… Read More "From Nation-Building to Black Hawk Down: U.S. Peacekeeping in Somalia"
An Affair to Remember and a Job to Forget: Falling for a Communist during the Height of McCarthyism
In 1953, the Department of State removed John F. Melby from the Foreign Service because of his affair with acclaimed American author and political activist Lillian Hellman, who was suspected of being a Communist Party member. Hellman was famous for her 1934 Broadway play, The Children’s Hour, which dealt with lesbianism, and The Little Foxes.… Read More "An Affair to Remember and a Job to Forget: Falling for a Communist during the Height of McCarthyism"
Establishing Ties with Pakistan — 1947
It was the end of one era and the beginning of another. In August 1947 the British Empire, which had ruled the Indian subcontinent as part of the Raj since the mid-19th century, granted independence to the India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The Muslim League, which arose in the 1930s in order to… Read More "Establishing Ties with Pakistan — 1947"
Khrushchev Visits America – A Cold War Comedy of Errors, Act I
Amid the descent of the Iron Curtain, the Bay of Pigs Invasion, and the conflict in Vietnam lies one of the more bizarre moments of the Cold War – Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev’s goodwill tour of the United States that began on September 15, 1959. While some may have heard of Khrushchev’s failed attempt to… Read More "Khrushchev Visits America – A Cold War Comedy of Errors, Act I"
“Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina” — The Tumultuous Times of Juan and Evita Peron
July 26, 1952: The people of Argentina are glued to their radios and fall silent as an official broadcast comes from the Subsecretary of Information: “It is our sad duty to inform the people of the Republic that Eva Peron, the Spiritual Leader of the Nation, died at 8:25 p.m.” The silence is broken as… Read More "“Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina” — The Tumultuous Times of Juan and Evita Peron"
Chile’s Coup Against Salvador Allende and the Truth Behind “Missing”
In 1973, political tensions were high in Chile, with conflict arising between the socialist President Salvador Allende and the more conservative Congress of Chile. The Chilean economy was failing, the Supreme Court had denounced Allende’s government, and perhaps more importantly, the military had lost its respect for Allende. During the summer, there had been several… Read More "Chile’s Coup Against Salvador Allende and the Truth Behind “Missing”"