The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project ARNOLD DENYS Interviewed by: Self Copyright 1998 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements A out the Author Note to the Reader Preface A Crisis in the Life of a Foreign Service Officer My Beginnings (S Citi)enship Return to Civilian Life Panama Assignment Crisis in Panama London Egypt Athens Mexico Canada ,ashington, DC Antwerp ,ashington to Tijuana Tijuana Tijuana to Retirement Conclusion DIARY Son of Flanders The Making of a Consul. Diary of an American Foreign Service Officer In Memory of Emiel Denys 01103411767 8odelieve Maria Denys 01101411117 AC9NO,LED8MENTS 1 I feel deep gratitude to my late parents for their encouragement to write this memoir. The late Mrs. 9atherine McCook 9nox, an art historian from ,ashington, DC, was in great part responsi le for my efforts in compiling letters and notes on the American Foreign Service. My thanks also go to Rhoda Riddell, Ph.D., a writer and teacher, who transcri ed and edited my handwritten account, which was taken from my diary. I also wish to thank Art Drexler, who completed the editing and prepared the book for printing. I wish also to thank the following persons, whom I have known in the long course of my foreign service career, and who have meant so much to me both personally and professionally, and deserve special acknowledgment. Consul 8eneral John D. Barfield Vice Consul 0Ret.7 Frank J. Barrett Miguel Angel 8arcia Charles Stuart 9ennedy, Director of the Association for Diplomatic Studies, who inspired me with his work on the Foreign Affairs Oral History Program. Appellate Court Judge Jacques 8uffens Colonel ,illy Van 8eet, Antwerp Police Dan ,. Henry, Attorney at Law Am assador Richard 9. Fox, Jr. Richard Thompson, Coordinator, Professional Issues, American Foreign Service Association. ABO(T THE A(THOR I have known Arnold Denys since 1161. ,e first met at a consular staff social at the Consul?s home in Panama City. I was intrigued by his claim to multiple university degrees, yet he was only a communications supervisor. Arnold was, for his Panama tour, a @ achelorA like me, which freed him for Canal Bone recreation together. As tourist visa officer I called him in to help interview French speaking applicants, usually Haitians. Like so many Americans from those days, I well remem er that it was Arnold who came into my office to inform me that President 9ennedy had een shot. 2 I recommended him for appointment as consular officer as soon as he fulfilled the requirements as a (S citi)en. I remem er he was in touch with Bishop ,right of Pitts urgh, and he had me accompany him to a reception at the Papal Nuncio?s residence in Panama City. After that I jokingly quipped to our CIA station chief one Sunday lunch. I think Arnold is a spy for the Vatican. I was retired 0up or out for FSOs7 after the Panama tour but I heard from Arnold during each of his su sequent assignments and visited him and his wife in Halifax, accompanied y my mother and aunt. ,e were graciously entertained. On his ,ashington assignments, I met with him three times, once in his State Department office, once at my Philadelphia, Pennsylvania home, and once halfway between. I enjoy his Christmas letters and postcards from his travels and am happy to know him and proud to be his friend. Francis J. Barrett, Esq., FSO 0Retired7 NOTE TO THE READER Early in my career, when I began this diary of my foreign service memoirs, I had not reali)ed that I would one day want to compile them into a book. At the time, it was simply a way for me to remem er details of persons, dates, and events that occurred in my career. Often times, circumstances allowed only rief moments to recollect a day?s events. On occasion, evacuations disrupted our routines for weeks at a time. Consequently, I was not as diligent as I should have been a out recording the complete names of some visiting diplomats, dignitaries, and other high ranking persons mentioned in this book. To correct these omissions, I have researched my notes and other sources with moderate success. It is hoped that the reader, and those persons mentioned, will understand the circumstances, and forgive the occasional omissions of first names. This book is intended to serve as a resource for those who wish to have a clearer understanding of the day to day life of a foreign service officer. As a story, it admittedly lacks the drama that a narrative style might have offered, but it does provide a chronology that records events during a most fascinating period of time in (S and world history. It is further hoped that students will be encouraged to consider a life in foreign service as one of great interest, challenge, and personal growth. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have served the (nited States as a foreign service officer, and have prepared this book to record my experiences for others who may share this interest in government service. PREFACE I first thought a out entering the (nited States Foreign Service in my sophomore year at 8on)aga (niversity, in Spokane, ,ashington. A chain of events prepared me for this adventurous and interesting life. My immigration to the (nited States from Belgium at the beginning of the Cold ,ar between the (SSR and the (S, and my immersion in the 3 intellectual and spiritual life of American society, paved the way to seek a diplomatic career suita le to my ideological aspirations and needs. I had good Jesuit teachers who ecame my mentors and gave me the impetus to contri ute my talents to American diplomacy at a time when the (nited States would play a crucial glo al role in the aftermath of ,orld ,ar II. My years 01153411567 at 8eorgetown (niversity School of Foreign Service increased my focus on American ideology and its positive leadership in the free world. After witnessing atrocities and bom ing in Flanders between 1131 and 11C5, life as an immigrant in the (nited States in the early 1150s taught me a out the duties of American democracy and the sacrifices my adopted land had made to preserve li erty and human rights. I went through an in4depth educational process of Americani)ation, and my su sequent service as an interpreter in the (S Army bolstered my career plans. In the Army I pursued positive contacts with European civilian and military officials and ecame involved in pu lic relations liaison work, which served me well in later years as a (S Consul. In these memoirs I have tried to show how an American Foreign Service employee and consul can contri ute, in a small but effective way, to enhancing America?s image a road. My foreign service career was unique in that it required more )eal and dedication. I was a recent newcomer to this country, entering a field which, in the early 1160s, usually required ten years of American citi)enship. In spite of the o stacles I was a le to make a relatively successful contri ution to the Foreign Service during the post ,orld ,ar II period. Every post had its hardships, career growth and fulfillment. Panama introduced me to the cultural, economic, and social im alances of Latin America. The break in (S4 Panamanian relations over an incident in the Canal )one prepared me for a more serious crisis in Egypt, when my family had to be evacuated, our Consulate 8eneral in Alexandria was burned down, and my personal safety was endangered. Athens offered a respite, a place to recharge energies following the mass exodus of foreign service personnel from the Near East in 1167. London offered peace and many amenities for a foreign service family. In Hermosillo, Mexico, I learned to become an effective consular officer. But it was during my assignment in Halifax, Canada, that I became attuned to the protocol of the Service as I socially mingled with chiefs of mission, Canadian officials, and other diplomats on a regular basis. My assignment in the State Department, in ,ashington, DC, exposed me to interaction etween the Pu lic Affairs Press Office and the Secretariat, and between the Office of Cultural Affairs and Educational Exchanges 0C(EARA7 and its political desk officer counterparts. The jo in the Visa office trained me in Congressional interest inquiries. C During the period from 117741181 I held an important assignment in Belgium. This tense period led up to the end of the Cold ,ar, which President Reagan and Vice President Bush helped bring a out by keeping the Pershing missiles on the books for deployment in ,estern Europe, including Belgium. Political reporting and meeting Flemish political leaders became part of my consular jo description. I was called upon to act as Consul 8eneral at interim for three months. It was a dynamic era for the North Atlantic Treaty Organi)ation 0NATO7 and the European (nion 0E(7, while ,estern Europe was on the threshold of opening up to Eastern Europe. As a Consul in Tijuana, I dealt with (S4Mexico border pro lems of great proportions. The num er of undocumented aliens from Mexico and Central America was increasing. Tijuana was one of the largest nonimmigrant visa issuance posts in Mexico, and its strategic location near San Diego made it fertile ground for investors in border industries 0the maquiladores7. It also became a site of heavy drug trafficking. The positive side of being a consular officer in Tijuana was the constant cultural interchanges between the two Californias at a time when Mexico was undergoing rapid political and social changes.