The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project Information Series WILLIAM JEFFRAS DIETERICH Interviewed by: Charles Stuart Kennedy Initial interview date: October 19, 1999 Copyright 200 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Bac ground Born in Boston, Massachusetts; raised in Ohio Wesleyan (Connecticut) College; SAIS (Bologna Campus) (.S. Navy 1,-1.1,-8 Marriage O ina0a ((.S. Navy) . relay station Washington, DC Washington, DC . 1oice of America . Trainee 1,-8.1,20 Santa Cru4, Bolivia . (SIS . Cultural Center . Director 1,20.1,22 Environment 78evolution9 Cultural divisions (SAID Ethnic groups (.S. military Center destroyed Anti.(.S. students Cochabamba Programs Government Security Buenos Aires, Argentina . (SIS . Press and Information Officer 1,22.1,24 Local press Dictatorships Po0er centers 8egional characteristics Government 1 Wireless File (.S. press Elections Peron Fal lands/Malvinas Sao Paulo, Bra4il . (SIS . Press/Information Officer 1,24.1,22 Environment Government Press Ama4on 8elations Environment Watergate Japanese community State Department (on loan from (SIA) . Inter.American Affairs . Press 8epresentative 1,22.1,2, Press briefings Ne0 broadcast stations Guidance preparation Hodding Carter Foreign press Democracy issue Country issues Letelier murder Cuba Jonesto0n, Guyana tragedy Tel Aviv, Israel . (SIS . Information Officer . Press Attaché 1,2,.1,82 Camp David agreements Press corps (.S. policy Politics Prime Minister Menachem Begin Philip Habib Arab.Israeli relations F.1-s Lebanon invasion PLO Prime Minister Sharon Multilateral Force Observers AMFOsB 8ome, Italy . Multilateral Force Observers . Public Affairs Officer 1,82.1,8C Force composition 2 Wor environment Duito, Ecuador . (SIS . Public Affairs Officer 1,8C.1,8- Environment Media Drugs 8elations Fulbright Program Elections (.S. interests Fran 1argas Government Tuna fishing Galapagos Washington, DC . (SIA . Latin America . Deputy Director/Area Director 1,8-.1,8, Charlie Wic WorldNet Programs Scholarships 1OA Influencing policy NSC Iran Contra San Salvador, El Salvador . DCM 1,8,.1,,2 Sandinista influence Guerrillas Atrocities Fortress . embassy Environment President Cristiani Military (.S. policy November attac Delta Force Peace negotiations Evacuation Anti.(.S. sentiment Non.governmental organi4ations ANGOsB (.S. military group (MIL group) Bill Wal er Church leadership Emigrants C Elections Ne0 embassy MeEico City, MeEico . (SIS . Public Affairs Officer 1,,2.1,,5 NAFTA Programs 7Dependency9 theory Indian culture Cultural affairs Canada 8elations Border problems (.S. immigration policy Media Institutional change Political parties Cuba Education Consulates (.S. eEpatriates Chiapas 8etirement 1,,5 (SIA Alumni Association . President INTERVIEW $: When and where were you born, and tell me something about your family. DIETE8ICH: I 0as born on December 11, 1,C- in Boston, Massachusetts, 0here my father 0as a student of theology at Boston (niversity. $: How many people in your family* DIETE8ICH: I 0as the first born, and I have t0in brothers 0ho 0ere born about five years later. When I 0as less than a year old, my father finished his studies and 0as assigned to a Methodist Church in Brec sville, Ohio. We all moved West. $: It would not be the easiest of times in the middle of the depression. Where did you grow up* DIETE8ICH: My first memories are in the little to0n of Millersberg, Ohio. The Pennsylvania Dutch country of Ohio, during the Second World War. I thin I can 4 remember Pearl Harbor. $: What was your father+s bac,ground* DIETE8ICH: My father 0as the son of a Methodist preacher in Ohio, various places in Ohio. My mother 0as the daughter of a Methodist preacher in Massachusetts. They met as students at Ohio Wesleyan (niversity. $: What was life li,e in Millersberg* DIETE8ICH: Gosh, that is hard. I donHt remember much and moved not too long after that. I remember living in a big house across the street from the church. I remember some of the thoughts of the 0ar, and I do have memories of or at least heard stories of, the fact that it 0as an Amish area and there 0ere troubles in the to0n because Amish people spo e German, and didnHt serve in the 0ar. I can remember some tales of discomfort and 0orry about that. I also remember a very funny incident: 0hen somebody got it into their head that somebody had poisoned the 0ater to0er and that it had probably been a German agent of some sort. The police 0ent around to0n noc ing on doors in the middle of the night and telling everyone to boil all their 0ater. It turned out there 0ere ids up there trying to paint 7Class of 1,4CI . or 0hatever it 0as . on the 0ater to0er. $: Then where did you move* DIETE8ICH: We moved to Wads0orth, Ohio. I remember the Normandy invasion very clearly, and that it happened 0hile 0e 0ere still living in Millersberg. I remember the death of FD8 in terms of Wads0orth. So 0e must have moved in the summer of 1,44. We stayed there until junior high school 0hen 0e moved to Nor0al , Ohio. $: Tal, about Wadsworth, where you went to school. What was school li,eJ DIETE8ICH: You no0, I donHt have very strong memories of school days. EEcept that I remember I didnHt do 0ell in the third grade. That may still have been in Millersberg. I remember I didnHt do 0ell, and I also remember not doing 0ell in the first grade and having some problems 0ith reading, so my grandmother came (0ho 0as an old time school teacher), and taught me by very traditional methods. My father claims she used a McGuffy reader. Someho0 she made me brea through on reading. I do have this memory of standing up in front of the class and being able to read for the first time. I had not been able to do it before. Wads0orth . itHs hard to dredge up memories. I remember being in the safety patrol, and having the flag that you held do0n, and eeping ids from crossing the street. ThatHs probably a ey to my character. As I said, I remember the death of Fran lin Delano 8oosevelt. I can remember that I 0as in the bac yard of the house thro0ing a ball up on the roof of the garage and 0hen it 0ould roll bac do0n the roof I 0ould catch it in my baseball glove. That doesnHt mean I ever became a good baseball player. 5 $: Were you a sore e.ample of a preacher+s ,id, or did you stay out of trouble* DIETE8ICH: Oh, no, I can remember getting in trouble every no0 and then, but I didnHt get into serious trouble. IHve no0n a lot of preacherHs ids in my life, and some of them 0ere absolutely terrible and others became preachers. I 0as sort of in the middle. $: How about at home* Was religion a big thing as far as you were concerned* What did you tal, about at the dinner table* DIETE8ICH: Church 0as a big thing in the sense it 0as the center of my fatherHs life and 0e 0ere eEpected to go to church. So I spent a lot of time in church, and in church youth groups. Fortunately I learned early on that I li ed to sing in the choir, 0hich gave me a church activity that I li ed doing. Other0ise it 0ould have been more difficult. I can remember being proud of my fatherHs position and li ing part of it. PreacherLs ids gro0 up in a funny 0ay. You donHt have a lot of money. On the other hand, you are very much a part of the upper class of the to0n. There are economic tensions in families, often, because you have to maintain a respectable middle.class lifestyle 0ithout necessarily having the money to do it. In my fatherHs case, he 0as usually furnished 0ith pretty nice houses in pretty nice parts of to0n. Preaching may have been a better deal bac then than no0. $: What about when you were getting up to junior high* 0our grandmother got you to read. Did you read much* DIETE8ICH: Yes, reading 0as important. I canHt remember in Wads0orth, but 0hen I entered seventh grade 0e moved to the to0n of Nor0al , Ohio, 0hich is really the place I consider my home to0n. $: Where is Norwal, located* DIETE8ICH: Nor0al is just south of Sandus y; it is to the 0est of Cleveland on old route 20. It is a very old to0n, part of 0hat is no0n as the Western 8eserve of Ohio, 0hich 0as. $: Many people came from Connecticut. DIETE8ICH: Connecticut and Massachusetts, mainly Connecticut, 0hich is 0hy it is named Nor0al . There is a tiny little to0n named Ne0 Haven right nearby. You mentioned reading. I remember the city library 0as just across a couple of bac lots from our house, and I spent a lot of time there. Not only 0ith boo s, but 0hen LP records first came out, they began to stoc LP records in the library and I 0as able to borro0 them. $: What were your interests by the time you were in junior high and high school* DIETE8ICH: In junior high and high school I 0as interested in reading. I thin I 0as in - Boy Scouts for a0hile and li ed camping. I 0as interested in model building, 0asnHt much good at sports, although I played tennis a lot. Not much into team sports. Mind of interested in the social life of the school. $: I found that two of the sub/ects a good number of officers whom I interviewed ma/ored in, in high school, were girls and sports. DIETE8ICH: No, I 0asnHt into the sports thing. Also at that time, beginning in 1,45, I began to spend summer vacations in Ne0 Hampshire 0here my motherHs parents had a place.