Heroes From Our Past

Heroes From Our Past Honorees

 

The Heroes of U.S. Diplomacy initiative tells the stories of the U.S. Department of State’s modern-day heroes among us and heroes from throughout our rich history. The following historical figures were nominated by the Department of State’s Office of the Historian and selected by a Steering Committee comprised of senior Department officials.

Patricia “Patti” Morton

Image of Diplomatic Security Special Agent Patti Morton holding a weapon.Patti is being recognized as a Hero of U.S. Diplomacy for her trailblazing work at the U.S. Department of State, encompassing her career long commitment to training others in personal safety and her broader community preparedness work, including drafting evacuation plan for Saigon during the Vietnam War, which was put to use during the fall of Saigon in April 1975 and the ultimate evacuation and closure of the embassy. Moreover, Patti is a Hero of U.S. Diplomacy who advanced the work and service of the U.S. Department of State by not only being a trailblazer for women in security, but also for dedicating the later part of her career to championing broader diversity in recruitment and hiring. Throughout her international career, Patti was also a proponent of cultural diplomacy and a model of personal diplomacy, acting as an informal representative for the United States on a variety of levels beyond her security work.

Image of Patti Morton used in a Department of State recruiting brochure from her assignment as a Foreign Service Secretary at U.S. Embassy Kinshasa.

Patti first joined the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service in 1965. She served as a Foreign Service Officer staff secretary at several U.S. diplomatic missions overseas, including Nepal, Kinshasa, Cameroon, and Singapore. Patti excelled in all her assignments and was featured as one of the faces of the State Department’s promotional materials for recruitment of Foreign Service Secretaries.

Patti became the first female Diplomatic Security Special Agent in 1972, after she was recruited by the Office of Security, a precursor to today’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), and was recommended for training as a security officer. After being passed over for numerous duty assignments in the Diplomatic Security Washington, D.C. Field Office her first year on the job, Patti finally got her chance supporting the advance team when the Chinese acrobatic team and reporters came to the U.S. after President Nixon established bilateral relationships between the two countries. Another high-level protective detail included that of Grace Kelly, with whom she became a close personal friend.

Patti also took unarmed self-defense courses at the Metropolitan Police Academy while working in the D.C. field office. She then began offering classes herself, passing along what she learned to colleagues in an auditorium in the State Department over lunch hours. These classes were the precursor to the nonviolent self-defense training available to foreign affairs professionals and their family members via the Foreign Service Institute today.

Image of blue clutch.
Clutch used by Patti Morton to hold her .357 Magnum pistol while assigned to the Washington Field Office in the early 1970s. (Collection of the National Museum of American Diplomacy).

From her earliest days in the Diplomatic Security Service, it was clear that Patti was a great shot. It was during this period that she earned her now famous nickname “Pistol Packin’ Patti” due to her habit of carrying her Diplomatic Security-issued pistol in her purse.  At the time, the DSS did not issue gear for women to hold their weapons. As a result, Patti exercised ingenuity by using her clutch to hold her .357 Magnum pistol.

Close-up picture of three toy cars.
Diplomatic Security Special Agent Patti Morton used these toy cars to train employees at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon in the art of defensive driving. (Collection of the National Museum of American Diplomacy).

Patti was also a courageous trailblazer abroad. She went on to become the first female Regional Security Officer (RSO) in the Department of State’s history when she was stationed at U.S. Embassy Saigon. When Patti arrived at post in the spring of 1974, she was one of four RSOs in Vietnam – an assignment then considered extremely dangerous given the ongoing Vietnam War. Patti took seriously her role of promoting the safety of the entire embassy community and led training sessions and briefings for embassy staff and their families on defensive driving techniques, utilizing a set of toy cares to role play dangerous scenarios. Among her many responsibilities, Patti’s duties included physically surveying all Consul Generals throughout Vietnam, as well as supervising the Marine Security Guards who guarded the embassy. Patti was also the emergency and evacuation coordinator and authored the embassy’s evacuation plan, which became a crucial document when it was put to use during the embassy evacuation and closure amidst the fall of Saigon in April 1975.

At every location, Patti was a patron of the local performing arts and attended museums and other cultural exhibits. She believed in the value of cultural and people to people diplomacy and saw art as a way to connect people around the world. At the time of her death in 2019, Patti donated her own apartment and the contents therein to the U.S. Department of State.

Patti was aware of her legacy. She went back to speak to her alma mater in Washington State and encouraged students to consider serving their country through careers at the State Department. In the 1980s, Patti became the Deputy Director of the Office of Civil Rights and also served as the Federal Women’s Program Manager, where she would direct the State Department’s efforts to provide employment for women at all levels. She then went on to become a member of the State Department Board of Examiners where she was responsible for the selection of new entrants to the Foreign Service. In an interview reflecting on her career, Patti said, “When I think of being the first woman security officer, what I think of most is I hope I have done the best job I can, and that it will be easier for those who follow. I think of those things as opposed to – Hey, I was the first. I never think anything is due to me because I was the first.”

Learn more about Patti Morton and her trailblazing career:

Video Archive – “Honoring “Pistol Packin’ Patti” Morton” (07/28/20):

 

Ralph J. Bunche

Dr. Ralph J. Bunche (1904-1971) was an academic and diplomat who shaped some of the most remarkable moments in 20th century history. The grandson of a freed slave, Bunche spent his life engaged as a civil rights activist in the United States while working for peace in troubled regions around the world. In recognition of his diplomatic contributions to the U.S. Department of State, the United Nations, and the international community, Bunche is honored as a Hero of U.S. Diplomacy.

With U.S. entry into World War II, Bunche served in the Office of Strategic Services before joining the U.S. Department of State (1944-1946), becoming the first African American Desk Officer. He was soon promoted to Chief of Dependent Area Affairs and played a major role in formulating the groundwork for the United Nations Charter. He joined the UN staff in 1946 and attended the first UN General Assembly that year in London. In 1948, Bunche worked to mediate the Arab-Israeli conflict. Although the UN originally chose Sweden’s Count Folke Bernadotte to mediate the conflict, with Bunche assigned as his chief aide, Bernadotte was assassinated in September, propelling Bunche to be lead negotiator. He negotiated the armistice while playing pool with the Israeli and Arab representatives, and eventually convinced both parties to accept the 1949 agreement. By 1955, Bunche became Undersecretary General for Special Political Affairs and focused on decolonization and human rights. He traveled to many conflicted areas such as Cyprus, Kashmir, Congo, and the Middle East.

In 1950, Bunche was the first African American awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work negotiating a cease-fire between the new state of Israel and Arab nations in the region. President Kennedy awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 for his UN work in Middle East peace.

Equally important to his diplomatic work, Bunche supported the civil rights movement. In 1936, Bunche helped establish the National Negro Congress, an organization committed to labor and civil rights for African Americans. By the 1960s, Bunche marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. in Washington, D.C. and in Selma, AL.

Learn more about Ralph J. Bunche’s contributions to U.S. and international diplomacy:

Video Archive – “Honoring Dr. Ralph J. Bunche” (02/27/20):

Photo of Dr. Ralph J. Bunche with another representative at the first session of the United Nations General Assembly on January 10, 1946.
Bunche as one of the American representatives at the first session of the United Nations General Assembly on January 10, 1946 in London. Two years prior, Bunche was part of the conference at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. that laid the groundwork for the draft UN Charter. (Photo Credit: UCLA)
Ralph Bunche at a table negotiating in 1949.
Bunche as acting UN mediator for Palestine in 1948. Although the UN originally chose Sweden’s Count Folke Bernadotte to mediate the conflict with Bunche as his chief aide, after Bernadotte was assassinated in September, Bunche took over. He negotiated the armistice while playing pool with the Israeli and Arab representatives. (Credit: UN Photo)
Ralph Bunche with Norwegian officers while visiting a UN Emergency Force observation post.
Bunche, UN Undersecretary for Special Political Affairs, studies a map being explained to him by Norwegian officers while visiting a UN Emergency Force observation post on the Israel-Egyptian demarcation line in May 1959. (Credit: UN Photo)
Bunche as UN Undersecretary for Special Political Affairs is seen with two youngsters in Gaza for a visit to the UN Emergency Force in 1962. (Credit: UN Photo)
Bunche shakes hands with President Kennedy at UN headquarters in 1963.
Bunche greets President Kennedy. Bunche's work in the Middle East was recognized widely, including by the US Government, which awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, the country's highest civilian award. (Credit: UN Photo)
Ralph Bunche shakes hands with Martin Luther King, Jr. as he greets him and Coretta Scott King in 1964.
Bunche remained involved with the U.S. civil rights movement before and during his UN service. Here, Bunche greets Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King. (Photo credit: UN Photo)

U.S. Diplomats During World War I

As representatives of the most powerful neutral state during World War I from 1914 to 1917, a small group of U.S. Department of State officials and their (volunteer) spouses engaged in an unprecedented array of humanitarian and consular services. They assisted over 100,000 American citizens in their return home; facilitated U.S. efforts to care for wounded soldiers; looked after Prisoners of War, and oversaw massive relief initiatives to help civilians. These crucial activities required innovation, flexibility, resilience, and creativity to accomplish new missions borne out of the biggest ongoing crisis in modern history. The process of responding to these novel challenges shaped the modern Department of State. Additionally, the wartime experience later led to the creation of the Foreign Service, highlighted the need for professionalization and specialist expertise, and regularized activities that now comprise much of the work of the Department’s functional bureaus.

Learn more about the diplomatic work of Department of State officials during World War I:

Video Archive – “In the Diplomatic Trenches: Department Heroes Alleviate Suffering During World War I” (10/29/19):

Photo of William Henry Hunt overlaid on Heroes of U.S. Diplomacy initiative branding
Meet William Henry Hunt, one of the only African American consuls in Europe when war broke out in 1914. His vital consular duties included evacuating U.S. citizens during the war’s first weeks, issuing emergency consular passports, and visiting prisoners of war. As a representative of a neutral nation, Consul Hunt acquired responsibility for German, Austro-Hungarian, and Turkish subjects, visiting and inspecting internment and prisoner-of-war camps. Additionally, Consul Hunt became the president of the local rugby club. He used his presidency to benefit the community throughout the war, such as holding athletic competitions to raise funds for soldiers’ families and exercising sports diplomacy.
Photo of Ambassador James W. Gerard on Heroes of U.S. Diplomacy branding.
U.S. Ambassador to Germany James W. Gerard and his staff improvised quickly and worked tirelessly to aid stranded U.S. citizens as the war broke out. They coordinated Embassy repatriation efforts with U.S. consulates across Germany to develop an evacuation system that facilitated the return of Americans scattered across central Europe. As an expression of humanitarian parity, volunteer American Red Cross hospital units arrived to treat wounded soldiers behind German lines, which required Ambassador Gerard and his staff to exercise adaptiveness and dexterity to facilitate their operations.
Photo of Mildred Barnes Bliss with Women's War Relief Corps members on Heroes of U.S. Diplomacy branding.
Philanthropist Mildred Barnes Bliss organized relief agencies, toured battlefields, raised money, and worked to provide humanitarian assistance. When she and her husband, Embassy First Secretary Robert Wood Bliss, returned to Paris after the outset of the war, she was quick to co-found “Enfants de la Frontière” to care for displaced Belgian and French refugee children. She also established the American Distributing Service, which dispersed privately acquired medical supplies to military hospitals in France.
Photo of Wesley Frost on Heroes of U.S. Diplomacy branding.
We’re telling the story of Wesley Frost. He was the U.S. Consul in Ireland at the time that the Lusitania sank carrying American citizen passengers. This was one of the first overseas mass-casualty incidents resulting in Americans’ lost lives. In the aftermath of this history-changing event, Consul Frost faced a whirlwind of humanitarian and diplomatic challenges, including supporting American survivors, providing reports back to Washington, D.C., and identifying those who had lost their lives.
Portrait of Walter Hines Page on Heroes of U.S. Diplomacy branding.
At the onset of the war, U.S. Embassy London, led by U.S. Ambassador Walter Hines Page, unintentionally became the central clearing house for all U.S. diplomatic activities in Europe. This presented a unique situation in which the embassy inadvertently became “Washington-in-Europe.”
Photo of Carloyn M. Herrick and Ambassador Myron T. Herrick on Heroes of U.S. Diplomacy branding.
The spouses of U.S. diplomats in Europe played instrumental roles during this turbulent period. Carolyn M. Herrick, married to Ambassador Myron T. Herrick, served as President of American Ambulance Women’s Committee, and utilized her connections to French and American women to fundraise for relief efforts. She was aided by Ellie Sherman Thackara, wife of Consul General at Paris Alexandar M. Thackara, Mildred Barnes Bliss, wife of Embassy Secretary Robert Wood Bliss, and other women from the U.S. diplomatic communities in Paris.
Photo of Fred Dearing on Heroes of U.S. Diplomacy branding.
U.S. diplomats during World War I faced unprecedented diplomatic challenges. This included the welfare and safety of approximately 2 million military and civilian prisoners of war. Although several Foreign Service Officers at the U.S. mission in Russia rose to meet these challenges, Fred M. Dearing was notable for his grasp of the enormity of the problem facing the U.S. Embassy in Petrograd and its constituent consulates. Arriving at the height of the war in 1916, he helped to ensure the adequate treatment of POWs and the proper management of millions of dollars in relief funds.

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