Issuu

THE' P.I... ..... AFS Drivers Honored by the Arias Foundation P.2 AFS Welcomes New President P.3

A German

Army Hospital P.S French Veterans Honor AFS Drivers P.s

Preservi ng

the AFS legacy P.7

AFSÂˇs

Vision for 2010 P.IO Earry AFSers Reunite in Paris

AFS Drivers with Dr. OscarArias Sanchez at Award Ceremony. L to R: Peter MinnockStewart, Norman Shethar, Dr. OscarArias Sanchez, G.B. Squire, Walter Brethauer, and Edwin Masback.

AFS Drivers Honored By The Oscar Arias Foundation EDITORIAL

STAFF

Eleanora Golobic. Archivist

and Editor

Caroline Holley. Manager of Communications

Alana Robinson. Designer

The Oscar Arias Foundation for Peaceand Human Progresshonored the founders of AFS for their vision of 50 years ago in starting the intercultural exchange organization that AFS is today. Dr. Oscar Arias, Nobel Laureate and former President of Costa Rica, inspired delegates from over 50 countries during a ceremony at the AFS Intercultural Programs World Congress in Costa Rica in September. Accepting the award on behalf of AFS WWII Volunteers were five World War II ambulance drivers -Walter Brethauer (ME 19, CM 94, IB 59T), C.B. Squire (ME 37, IB 57), Peter Minnock-Stewart (IB 1, IB 45), Norman Shethar (CM 53) and Edwin Masback (ME 37).

AFS Welcomes New President AFS Intercultural Programs is pleased to announce that Paul Shay of Montreal, Canada, is the new president of its worldwide network as of November 1, 1999. Mr. Shay previously held the position of Executive Director and Secretary of Canada World Youth. Canada World Youth operates youth programs in Asia, Africa, the Americas and Central and Eastern Europe. Shay's interest in international youth programs is deeply rooted in his personal experience during his formative years. In 1973-74 he studied in Mexico on the Rotary International Student Exchange. In 1975-76 he participated in Canada World Youth's exchange program between Canada and Tunisia. These experiences left Shay convinced of the great value of such exchanges and so, following the completion of his degree in Media Studies at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto, he started a career with Canada World Youth in 1980. After working in a number of different positions, Shay was named Executive Director and Secretary in 1992. He led the organization through an important period of innovation and renewal during a time of rapid change. Shay is active in the larger community in Canada. He has been an officer of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation, the Fourth Global Conference on Aging, the Sault Saint Louis Foundation and the Montreal International Forum. He was a member of the Canadian Committee for the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations. Shay received from the Governor General of Canada the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada, "in recognition of significant contribution to compatriots, community and to Canada". On a personal note Shay is married to Marie-Claude Roy and together they have two sons, Raphael, 14, and Philip-Edouard, 12. He speaks English, French and Spanish. Please join us in welcoming Paul Shay to AFS.

Following the end of World War II the members of the American Field Service (AFS) committed themselves to the cause of international understanding. Dr. Arias noted, "They had a vision of a peaceful world in which the people of different nations would understand and appreciate one another, and they took action so that their vision would someday be realized." Dr. Arias lauded AFS's work; "I commend you for the noble work that you have done over the past half-century. You have instilled the values of tolerance, understanding, and mutual respect in the hundreds of thousands of people who have been involved in your exchanges, thereby contributing to the formation of a more peaceful, more compassionate world." The Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress was established in 1988 with the monetary award from Dr. Arias' Nobel Peace Prize. The Foundation promotes women's rights and gender equality, participation in civil society in Central America and demilitarization and conflict resolution in the developing world.

AFS World ~r II volunteer ambulance driver, ~lter Brethauer, accepts award from Dr. Oscar Arias Sanchez on behalf of thefounders.

A German Army Hospital in Rome 8y

WALTER

DOYLE,

CM 41 "8"

PLATOON,

567

COY

In late July, 1944, about 30 miles north of Rome, I was serving as an AFS platoon sergeant, and had been issued a standard British Army vehicle for the job, a speedy, light-weight Norton motorcycle. I thought I was fairly adept at handling it until one day, when I tounded a bend and faced an Italian farmer with his donkey right in my path. I swerved to miss them and the motorbike and I plunged over a hillside. I was knocked unconAFS Driver, Walter Doyle, with his ambulance in Italy, 1944 (Photo by George scious. When I awoke, I was in a Holton). hospital bed in a large, highceilinged ward. The occupants of the beds on each side "You have been on morphine ever since your accident, of me were speaking to each other in German. On the but you will not be given any more," she replied. "The opposite wall there was painted a huge German eagle pain will go down day by day and in the meantime with a swastika in the middle. I thought, my God, I've you will just have to bear it." The x-rays showed that been captured! one of my spinal vertebrae had been crushed. A nurse arrived and asked, in British English, how I was feeling. I ached all over but it was reassuring to hear her English voice. "Oh, I see you are confused," the nurse said. "Yes, this is a German hospital but we took it over some weeks ago. You are back in Rome and you are still in the Eighth Army." I told her I was in a good deal of pain, and could she give me something to ease it.

There were about 40 beds in the ward and all the patients had spinal injuries. I was the only non-German patient. The fellow on my right was an artillery sergeant, a Bavarian of the Herman Goering Division, whose name I have forgotten. We were both the same age, 21, and managed to converse fairly well in Italian, the only language we shared. Having spent almost a year in Italy, I had a passable command of the language.

There was no evident animosity between the two of us. However, there was an older, stern-faced Sergeant Major several beds away who glared at the Bavarian and me every time we talked to each other. Mter a couple of days, the Bavarian commented that our food was very bad - bully beef, hardtack (meat and vegetable stew). He asked whether that was because it was being served to prisoners of war. I had to break the news that, no, this was regular British Army fare. He shook his head in disbelief. After 10 days or so, I was well enough to be discharged. Early in the morning I went to the office and the Medical Officer gave me a hand-done sketch map of Rome showing me the way to the redeployment center. Three German soldiers were sitting in the office including my Bavarian friend - and the M.O. asked if I would mind taking them along with me. I reminded him that I was under the Geneva Convention and not allowed to carry weapons. With that, he spoke to them in German answered him "Ja wohl," in unison.

and they

"It will be all right," the M.O. told me. "They have given their word of honor as soldiers that they will not try to escape. So, off you go." Thus began our long hike across most of Rome. I estimate that the hospital building must have been the predecessor of today's Salvatore Mundi hospital on the north side of the Tiber River. Our route took us south, across the river, to the Piazza Venezia, where the Bavarian asked if I had ever visited the ancient Forum nearby. He knew every inch of it and we spent about an hour as he educated me and the two other Germans. I remember especially standing at the place where Mark Anthony was supposed to have made his famous speech. After paying a leisurely visit to the Colosseum, we hiked on.

As we walked for block after block, many Italian civilians looked at us with puzzlement and with frowns, but there were no incidents. It was a hot day and we found a stand where lemon ices were sold. The Germans' money was no longer accepted so I paid for the four of us in Allied militaty currency. The operator of the stand whispered to me. "Ma questi sono Tedeschi!!" ("but these are Germans!!") In fact each of the Germans had an insignia over his right chest pocket, with the swastika and wings. I assured the Italian that they were my prisoners and he should not worty. Shortly after, we seemed to be off the route and I found an American MP directing traffic and asked him if he could help us. "Hell, no," the MP replied. "I've only been here a couple of days." Then, pointing at the three Germans, he asked, "Don't these guys know the way?" Apparently he had never seen a German soldier and thought my prisoners were Italian. By late afternoon we finally reached the redeployment center, which turned out to be a former Italian Army caserna (barracks). I shook hands with my three prisoners as we parted. The Bavarian sergeant said: "We are luckier than you. We are going to prison camp but you must go back to the front. For us, the war is over. " And so ended my most remarkable day of the war.

Have a Good AFS Story to Tell ?

AFS is interested inyour stories relating to your AFS experiences. Ifyou have a good story that you would like to share. please send it to Eleanora Golobic. Archivist. AFS Intercultural Programs. 71 West 23rd Street. 17th Fr.. New York.NY 10010 or e-mail eleanora.golob ic@afs.org

French Veterans Honor AFS Drivers Who Died in Service Paul Shay, new president of AFS International, and the Honorable Richard Duque, Consul General of France in New York, participated in a ceremony honoring the French and American war dead during the Veterans Day observances in New York. St. Vincent de Paul Church, site of the ceremony, is the national parish for French-speaking Catholics in New York. St. Vincent de Paul Church is located less than a block from the AFS International office in New York. The church has a beautifully restored small chapel dedicated to the French and American war dead. The chapel contains a plaque listing the names of sixty- four American Field Service drivers who died in the two World Wars. Shay and Consul Duque laid wreaths at the memorial and made remarks in French to the congregation. Prayers for the dead, the French and American national anthems and the playing of Taps concluded the ceremony. The ceremony was organized by the Federation of French War Veterans and was part of the annual memorial services of the church.

AFS International President, Paul Shay, lays wreath at the memorial chapel in St. Vincent de Paul Church in New 10rk.

Preserving the legacy of the American Field Service Although more than 50 years have passed since the American Field Service volunteer ambulance drivers left the battlefields of war, the American Field Service Archives continues to be a thriving resource. Historians, AFS drivers and their family members, video producers and students of all ages contact the American Field Service Archives each month. The Archives continue to receive historic material from those who recognize the significance of that material and decide to move items from family collections to AFS. Even at the current very basic level of storage and maintenance the Archive costs in excess of $75,000 a year. AFS International feels strongly that effort should be made not only to preserve the American Field Service materials in perpetuity but also to make them accessible to researchers now and in the future. While AFS International takes it as an important responsibility and is very committed to supporting the AFS Archives out of its operating funds, we are presently considering various possibilities that can help ensure the Archive's preservation and active and increased availability over the years. We would like to identify three or four drivers who would be willing to meet occasionally - either in person or by conference call- to help set the course for this activity. Interested family members are also welcome. Please contact Eleanora Golobic if you are interested in participating. E-mail: eleanora.golobic@afs.org Phone: (212) 807-8686 xl12

AFS's Annual World Congress in Costa Rica drivers reminded Congress participants of the origins and values on which AFS was founded and which carry the organization into the future. Delegates at the World Congress heard presentations by Guillermo Vargas, Costa Rica's Minister of Education, and Naotoshi Sugiuchi, the Japanese Ambassador to Costa Rica. Both Vargas and Sugiuchi were AFS participants to the United States. The Congress participants watched a moving folkloric dance performance by a troop of young dancers lead by Chairman of AFS International Board of Trustees, wayne Edwards, addressing Carolina Mendez Araya of the AFS World Congressdelegates. Cost Rica staff. The troop is made up of current AFS students spending The 1999 World Congress held in San Jose, Costa a year in Costa Rica, AFS returnees and young dancRica, in September was a memorable event in the ers with Downs Syndrome. life of AFS. The worldwide leaders of the organization endorsed a Vision Statement which will move On the last day of the Congress, Nobel Prize winner the organization forward for the next decade and and former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias spoke Nobel Laureate Oscar Arias presented the American to the assembly, exhorting those who make national Field Service drivers an award for founding an orgaeconomic decisions to concern themselves with the nization which has done so much to encourage peace destructive build-up of weapons and the military in the world. (Articles on pages 1 and 7 of this which divert resources away from the solutions to Ianus.) problems of world poverty. Another very significant feature of the Congress was the presence of a group of five ambulance drivers: Norman Shethar, Walter Brethauer, Peter MinnockStewart, C.B. Squire and Life Trustee, Edwin Masback. Early in the Congress Norman Shethar gave a moving presentation relating his experience with the American Field Service in the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, and later in the week a presentation by Peter Minnock-Stewart, focused on the AFS mission of peace. In sharing their perspectives and experiences in many sessions the

At the closing of the Congress a parade of school children entered the room with the AFS ambulance drivers and presented each delegate with pictures they had drawn of scenes depicting various aspects of the mission and values of AFS. These pictures were part of a national art contest that was spons ored by the Ministry of Education, Presidential House and AFS Costa Rica. We thank the staff and volunteers of AFS Costa Rica whose warmth and hard work made World Congress 1999 an event which will long be remembered.

AFS's Vision for the Year 2010 Over the course of the past year AFS has had thousands of conversations throughout the organization and around the world about the vision for AFS in the future. These conversations culminated during the 1999 AFS World Congress when AFS adopted its Vision Statement for the year 2010. This vision is built on the thoughts, aspirations and dreams of people who care about AFS. It involved a process which reached out ro all levels of the organization and to our friends in order to understand who we are, what we can become, and how we can continue to best serve our values. With this newly adopted vision AFS is poised to meet the challenges of the next millennium. We hold onto our abiding values as we embrace and prepare to lead change, and as we embark on providing ever-expanding intercultural learning opportunities to create a vibrant network of global citizens and global neighbours.

THE AFS

VISION STATEMENT

Our Mission is the framework and foundation of our work. Our core values are a source of stability as we position ourselves as a strategic thinking and acting organization to lead change. We will be at the forefront of those serving the need for intercultural education in an increasingly more global and locally diverse world, as outlined in this Vision for AFS in the year 2010.

AFS

Jt\![LLBE A LEADER IN

INTERCUL TURAL EDUCATION

AFS will be recognized throughout the world for high quality programs and our defining role in educational youth exchanges, as well as for our contributions in the field of intercultural learning and global education. Our competency in intercultural education will be based on long experience, grounded in research, and reinforced by our ability to innovate.

AFS

WILL ENABLE PEOPLE

BECOME GLOBAL CITIZENS

To AND

GLOBAL NEIGHBORS

AFS will turn diversity into an asset instead of a source of conflict. It is our belief that people change the world by taking responsibility in their local community aided by a wider global perspective. In the field of intercultural learning nothing can match the impact of a facilitated face-to-face experience that brings people together across the boundaries of nation, culture and socio-economic status. School-based exchange programs will be the heart of what we do. They foster personal growth and intercultural learning within a family, school and community setting. We are committed to strengthen and expand these programs. AFS will expand the opportunities for young adults to develop their intercultural skills in another culture while engaged in voluntary service, or vocational or educational training. AFS will take advantage of new technologies and other opportunities that will link and transform communities into interdependent global neighborhoods. We will constantly adapt our methodology to enhance the learn. . mg expenence.

AFS

WILL EMBODY DIVERSITY

AFS will have a widely recognized presence all over the world. AFS will actively seek the participation of people throughout the organization reflecting diversity in all dimensions. AFS will work to ensure that qualified participants will be involved regardless of their financial means. AFS

The AFS Mission Statement

WILL BRING PEOPLEAND

ORGANIZATIONS TOGETHER

We will advance dynamic relationships with schools and other organizations to offer and make best use of available expertise in pursuit of our mission and goals. Building these networks will expand our outreach and maximize the use of scarce resources. AFS

AFS is an international, voluntary, nongovernmental, non-profit organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world.

It\'JLLCONTRIBUTE To SOCIETY

THROUGH VOLUNTEERISMAND THE WAY

THE CORE VALUESAND

WE WORK TOGETHER

A TTRIBUTESOF AFS

We promote volunteerism as an important way by which people serve society. People committed to AFS contribute time and talents for the benefit of others who in turn pass the benefit on to other people and communities. AFS will provide volunteers with opportunities for recognition, learning and personal growth. AFS staff and volunteers will work together with mutual respect and understanding of their different roles and competencies in the interest of the worldwide organization. AFS will enable former participants, family members, educators and the community at large to engage in a life-long learning environment within AFS. TURNING ViSION INTO REALITY

To turn this vision into reality in a financially viable way, AFS will significantly expand its funding sources and engage in continuous and systematic improvement. This will ensure the ongoing development of our human resources and the quality and innovation of our products and services.

AFS enables people to act as responsible, global citizens working for peace an understanding in a diverse world. It acknowledges that peace is a dynamic concept threatened by injustice, inequity, and intolerance. AFS seeks to affirm faith in the dignity and worth of every human being and for all national and cultures. It encourages respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms without distinction as to race, sex, language, region or social status. AFS activities are based on our core values of dignity, respect for differences, harmony, sensitivity and tolerance.

L_S_W_I_T_Z

ERLA

The Communio/ Service Program Gains Momentum By AFS

CHAI GLENN-COOK PROGRAM DEVElOPMENT SPECIALIST

The Community Service Program continues to grow at a rapid rate. In 1999 over 500 young adults participated in the program and we anticipate over 650 participants in 2000. Achieving our goal of 1000 Community Service Participants by 200 1 is well within our reach. On the Community Service Program, participants volunteer with local organizations that address community needs. Projects vary between working with disadvantaged children to assisting with an environmental project in a Latin American rain forest. While helping these communities, participants have an intercultural experience that deepens their awareness of the new culture, the world and themselves.

together to discuss program development. In Miami, Florida a group of9 representatives evaluated the program and made recommendations on future directions. A second meeting in Asuncion, Paraguay brought together representatives from each AFS Partner running the Community Service Program. This weeklong workshop included a two-day training focused on working with adults and an opportunity to visit project organizations and current participants. Additional topics included working with not-for-profit organizations and volunteers, and establishing standards and procedures. The significant increase in growth and continued excitement around the program has produced energized staff and volunteers who are dedicated to developing a unique and dynamic AFS program.

The most significant trend over the past year has been the increase in the number of countries that host the programs, namely in Western Europe and Canada. Until now, the hosting programs were primarily in Latin America, Asia and Mrica. With the emergence of hosting programs in Canada and Western Europe, AFS is serving communities in all hemispheres thus enhancing the profile of the Community Service Program - as a diverse one. Training is the key to ensuring healthy growth and quality programs. Over the past year, two international meetings brought AFS Partner staff and volunteers

Ana Isabel Suhling, Community Service Participant from Germany. Ana volunteered with an Ecology Institute in Peru and taught students environmentally friendly farming techniques.

Echoes of a Jubilee: Ear~ AFSers Reunite in Paris By SUzy VAUCHEZ-BAUDEMONT FRANCETO USA 1948-49 What brought about this reunion, this gathering of people whom life had separated for a half a century? Did we hanker after "the olden days"? Had we reached an age when we wanted to "call back yesterday and bid him return"? At the beginning was the Jubilee of the French AFS Committee in 1997. Claude (Claude Egnell BALLANDE, Returnee 1948-49), Renee (Renee Martin - LACROIX, Returnee 1948-49) and Suzy (Suzanne VAUCHEZ - Baudemont, Returnee 194849) attended the celebrations, meeting again for the first time in almost 50 years. And they were so thrilled and felt so much as if the years gone by did not matter that they decided to extend their experience to the 32 AFSers who, like them, boarded a Greyhound bus on June 19, 1949 in New York and traveled together for a month across 30 states, publishing their daily newspaper ("Our Little World") on the bus, chatting, singing, joking and making the AFS familiar to hundreds of American families. So the 3 Frenchies contacted 2 more - Franc;:oise (Franc;:oise Lequoy - GAND, Returnee 1948-49) and Jean-Loup (Jean-Loup PIGUET, Returnee 1948-49) - and with the help of the AFS Archives in NY and of a few - very few! - national committees, all in all they managed to trace 19 out of the 32 bus trip participants. Their first circular suggesting a reunion in 1999 was greeted with enthusiasm. New meetings of "the French

AFS 1948-49 students enjoy the pre-bus trip party in New :Yorkin]une 1949. L to R: Franfoise Gand (France), Claude Ballande (France), Frans ~n Der Wielen (Netherlands) and VassiliosLefakinis (Greece).

team" ensued, a definite program was agreed on, particulars and costs were circulated and as a result sixteen 194gers plus ten spouses or companions spent three glorious days in Paris, from September 24th to 26th, with friendship, memories and champagne galore. It all started in Claude and Gerard's large apartment overlooking verdant Pare Monceau, with our host and hostess (and 2 of their 7 children) lavishing delicious food and bubbly on their guests. Nametags proved quite useful at first but with the help of period snapshots and documents, we eventually managed to identifY each other: after all, in 50 years, one does not change that much ...

Then on the morning of a bright Saturday we set off for Monet's house at Giverny, where Jean-Loup, the grand old man's great-grandson, added his personal touch and memories to the beauty of lily-ponds and garden and explained who was who on the faded photographs decorating the painter's home. In the evening the sight, though very different, was equally beautiful as the Eiffel Tower was the venue of our gastronomic dinner. Sunday saw us strolling the cobbled street of old Montmartre and/or hearing mass at Le Saere Coeur and having lunch at La Mere Catherine, a restaurant dating back to the French Revolution. As a pleasant surprise we were greeted by the Lord Mayor of old Montmartre, an enthusiastic singer, and we accompanied him, taking up the tunes we had sung on our bus trip and had not forgotten ever since. On our last evening together Fran<;oise and Alain's hospitality, their large terrace with the Eiffel Tower in the background, their champagne and refined fare, drove away any trace of nostalgia. We had revisited our common past and rediscovered our friendship and so, with confidence, we sang "Auld Lang Syne" and promised to meet again in 2002, in Prague, London or elsewhere ... provided we are still alive and kicking!

We welcome your remembrances of Steve for a possible publication. Please send your story to Eleanora Golobic, Archivist. .........................................

:.-:;

OUR TONY By

MARIAN MITCHElL

Excerpted from an article first published in 1956 and reprinted with permission from Mrs. Marian Mitchell, wife of Raymond Mitchell (ME 39). Active in the AFS Greater New Bedford, Massachusetts Chapter the Mitchell family was the first Driver family to have an AFS student live with them for a year. Antonangelo Pinna is now a journalist who served on the National Board of AFS Italy. To most of us, it is an accepted fact that Antonangelo Pinna was born in Milan, Italy, on March 8, 1938. There are two small residents of our town, however, who maintain that Tony's beginning occurred in the New Bedford, Massachusetts bus station one hot afternoon in August, 1955. Whenever we pass that now historic spot, our fouryear-old son asks, "Is that where we got Tony, mommy?" And our six-year-old daughter, her eyes twinkling, adds, "Was he a tiny little baby?" It was not a tiny baby, but rather a dusty, hungrylooking seventeen-year-old boy who awaited us that humid August day in the bus station. This youth ftom Milan, whom we have never seen before, was to be a member of our family for a year. My husband and I knew that his name was Antonangelo Pinna, that his father was a doctor, and that he was one of 653 teenagers from Europe and Asia, selected by the American Field Service to live for a year with an American family and attend an American school. Who was this boy? Coming from a far-off country and an environment unlike ours, how could he become a member of our family? Would we ever understand one another? Questions like this kept us awake far into the night just before Antonangelo's arrival.

But we were not the only ones to harbor fears. That afternoon, when we reached the bus station and found Tony, his expressive brown eyes were searching the crowds anxiously for his new family. "May we call you Tony? Are you hungry?" The barriers, if any existed, were down at once. Tony Pinna Mitchell, as the children call him, was a member of the family. Arriving home, I reheated the pork chops and tossed salad while Anne and Kim conducted their new brother to his room and boasted of their work in preparing it for him. Ours is a neighborhood of children and dogs, all sizes. Tony was soon known and beloved by all of them. As the teen-ager of the family, a role of which he was proud, Tony took over such traditional older son jobs as cutting grass and carrying out rubbish, helped at every step by a swarm of admiring youngsters.

'Tll neverforget limy reading Peter Rabbit to Anne and Kim, with an indescribable Italian accent, "says his host mother.

After our return from the mountains, a polio scare caused a two weeks' delay in the opening of school. Eager to begin his studies and meet boys and girls of his own age, Tony found the postponement irksome. We made a couple of phone calls, and boys began arriving at the house in twos and threes. Among the first to call was Bill Reed. As editor of the school newspaper, clarinetist in the school orchestra, tennis player and record enthusiast, Bill struck responsive chords in our boy from Milan. Bill Reed, Tony's best friend, will never again be plain Bill. To the school and the town he will be forever "Beel." And "ciao," pronounced "chow," an informal Italian equivalent of either "hello" or "good-bye," has become a part of Fairhaven's vocabulary. For his part, Tony has tackled American slang with zest. "Do you know what 'go ape' is mom?" he asked one day.

I had to admit my ignorance. "Beel" enlightened us; it seems that "go ape" is teen-age talk for going overboard for something or someone. Meanwhile, Anne and Kim became proud of their ability to say "Per piacere passami i pomidoro," meaning "Please pass the tomatoes," and "Scusatemi" for "Excuse me." I'll never forget the day when Tony rushed home with an all-A report card. Or the evening he read Peter Rabbit to Anne and Kim, with an indescribable Italian accent. Throughout these months, Ray and I were receiving bulletins from the American Field Service, explaining the objectives of this unique student-exchange program. The American Field Service was not a new organization to us. It became a part of our lives in January, 1943, when Ray sailed from New York to drive an AFS ambulance in the Middle East, North Africa and

Italy (Major Raymond Mitchell commanded AFS 485 Ambulance Company in Italy). With the war's end, the Field Service Director, Stephen Galatti, organized AFS strength behind the development of a student-exchange program. Galatti maintained that in the hands of high-school students lay the greatest potential existing for world peace. I remember Christmas Eve, when Tony returned from midnight Mass and found us arranging presents beneath the Christmas tree. He came offering packages to us. "Buon Natale, mom and dad! I want to give you these tonight!" Just as we shared our Christmas customs with himincluding a dinner of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding at the home of Grandfather Mitchell - so Tony enriched the season for us in Milanese style. During Christmas week a tremendous panettone, similar to our fruitcake, arrived from his family. This cake weighed eight pounds and provided refreshment, together with cups of caffe espresso, for a score of our friends. Also, a few days before Christmas, I received a note from Tony's mother, Elvira Pinna. Translated by her son, it reads in part: Dear Mrs. Mitchell: I hope with all my heart that these ties of affection, born and grown in one year, will continue in the future. Anne and Kim will grow up remembering the big brother who will certainly never forget his little brother and sister and his American parents. After graduating with his class at Fairhaven High School in June, Tony joined other AFS students for a bus trip covering more than a dozen of states. Then, Europe. For our family, letting Tony go has been inexpressibly difficult. And yet, so that the full purpose of the AFS program of international understanding may be achieved, Tony was ready to return to his country and his own family. But, as Mrs. Pinna said in her Christmas letter, I am Tony's "American mother." And I'm going to miss him terribly.

Oral History Project: An Update

AFS Archives and Communications is grateful to all Drivers who decided to participate in the AFS Oral History project which will contribute to preserving the AFS's and the nation's history. We would like to express our appreciation to Drivers who submitted their Oral History audiotapes and photographs to the Archives. Thank you for further strengthening our holdings on the AFS Founders and ensuring the future preservation of that legacy. For those who have yet to send your contribution, please remember that your personal memories of your service with the AFS are of immense value to us. Our Interview Questionnaire is designed to elicit first-hand responses on a wide range of subject areas. We are eager to do everything in our power to insure that participating in this Project is a rewarding experience for you and welcome your letters and suggestions. The information obtained in the project will bear witness to the history of World War II, the uniqueness of the AFS contribution and the sacrifice of "The Greatest Generation". Upon completion of the project, we would like to share the findings with other institutions, researchers, and scholars of the history of volunteer organizations, medical services, and educational exchange. We look forward to expanding the Oral History Project to include the First AFS Students 194753 and the First Americans Abroad (participants in the AFS Summer Program), 1950-53.

Research in the Archives The AFS Archives provided Axel Jansen, an AFS volunteer and Returnee from Germany, with a diary of Samuel P. Fay (SSU 1). The subject of Axel's Master's thesis "The Incorporation of Sacrifice" (1995) was the history of the American volunteer ambulance organizations in France during World War 1. Axel is currently working on his Ph.D. dissertation which includes a study of Samuel P. Fay and William Gorham Rice, Jr. (SSU 1, later 66). Archival records were made available to Nicholas Steneck for his study on the Hall's family humanitarian work during the Great War. Mr. Steneck, who is affiliated with the Department of History at the Ohio State University approached the Archives for the records of AFS WWI Drivers - Richard Neville Hall (SSU 3) and his brother Luis P. Hall (SSU 3). The administrative records of AFS Headquarters, SSU 3 and the Vosges Detachment provided explanatory information for Mr. Steneck's analysis of the Hall family's wartime correspondence located at the Bentley Historical Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Archives assisted Bruce E. Dorsey of US. Veterans of New Zealand Post 1 in Auckland, in his research on WWI ambulance service of his maternal grandfather, George Harrison Shaffer Jr. We were able to confirm that Mr. Shaffer did not serve with the AFS, but with the United States Army Ambulance Service Section SSU 606. This Section sailed to France on March 28, 1918 and its ambulance drivers drove regular Ford ambulances as they worked in the Argonne, with the US. Second Division. Archival records on causalities among AFS members in WWII were made available to Roger Cirillo, Project Historian of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. The National WWII Memorial will record the names of individual Americans who

participated in the war effort. Visit their Web site at http://www.wwiimemorial.com. We assisted Brenda Beck of Canada in her research project on Canadian Chaplains that served with AFS in Italy during WWI1. We gave information to Ms. Beck on AFS 485 Company ambulance drivers who were affiliated with the Canadian Forces in Italy and evacuated wounded ftom the Canadian Regimental Aid Posts at the front to the Canadian Hospitals in 1944. Detailed information on the AFS ambulance and medical corps insignia (485 Ambulance Car Company Griffin, the Red Cross and the Caduceus) was made available to David Uihlein (CM 97). Mr. Uihlein who served with C Platoon 485 Coy in Italy is restoring a WWII Dodge ambulance. We also provided Mr. Uihlein with the stencil of ''American Field Service" placed on ambulance cab doors. Archives provided AFS Germany with a CD version of original documentation of the Bergen Belsen Album. AFS Germany is planning to publish a smaller version of the Album for its volunteers. Archives also provided archival guidance to Christoph Schult, Board Member of AFS Germany who requested information on how to set up an archive. AFS Germany is presently assessing their holdings and building up an archive of the German AFS. We are pleased to cooperate with Baerbel Helmers, former National Director in this endeavor. Archives provided assistance to AFS Costa Rica in locating the US. host parents of Mr. Guillermo Vargas, the current Minister of Education of Costa Rica and an AFS Returnee (CRCYPUSA64-65). After reconnecting with Mr. Vargas's U.S. parents, they wrote a congratulatory message to their AFS son and AFS Costa Rica presented it to Mr. Vargas in March 1999.

Archival Exhibits Archives was a resource for the World Congress presentation of photos of President John F. Kennedy with AFS students at the White House in 1961-63. These images accompanied an audio recording of JFK's speech given in 1963 (see box). Following the World Congress the recording and the Kennedy photographs were made available to Partners.

The slide presentation was also viewed at the AFS volunteer event in Beijing, China on November 20, 1999.

Archives displayed a Driver exhibit at the 1999 World Congress in San Jose, Costa Rica. This biographical exhibit honored the 5 WWII Drivers who received the Oscar Arias Foundation Award on behalf of all AFS Founders (see article above). This exhibit consists of5 mounted displays. Archives also contributed a set of transparencies ''AFS at Bergen- Belsen" which was viewed during Norman Shethar's (CM 53) presentation to AFS Costa Rica volunteers and at the World Congress.

'1 want to first of all express my commendation

Field Service. I knew a good many young men who served in

An archival exhibit documenting the humanitarian service rendered by the AFS Drivers during the liberation of the Bergen Belsen concentration camp and consisting of archival documentation, photo reproductions and Drivers' art was made available for the Anne Frank Exhibit presented by AFS Guatemala last March. The text of the exhibit was translated into Spanish.

to the

the

Second

War

the

American

Field

Service, in North Africa and in Europe, and I think their experience working with other armies - the 8th Army in North Africa, with armies of a good many of your countries - gave them a sense that we should not have another war and also the importance of people working together..... This effort which has been made to bringyou to the United States

and

bring

the

students

the

United

States around the world has not been made merely to give you an interesting year. It has been made because a judge-

Archival documentation of AFS WWII insignia and insignia of the Allied armies was sent to AFS Norway in order to assist in the process of authenticating and identifying the WWII Dodge ambulance renovated in Norway.

ment has been reached that you will be among the fUture leaders of your country, that you carry with you a sense of respomibility and commitment, and that when you go home you will not be a friend of the United States but rather a friend of peace, a friend of all people. "

John F. Kennedy, July 18,1963 An archival slide presentation illustrating the AFS history and development as volunteer organization was viewed during Fred Balderston's (ME 37, CM 100, IB 59-T) key note speech at the first ever AFS Forum in Hong Kong on November 13, 1999.

AFS Drivers Today AFS AUSTRIA'S SOTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION Over 560 AFS volunteers, staff and former exchange students from around the world attended the celebration on May 15, 1999. The celebration began with inspiring comments from Wayne Edwards, Chair of the AFS International Board of Trustees; Fred Balderston (ME 37, CM 100, IB 59-T), AFS Life Trustee and Dr. Heinz Traxler, the first AFS student from Austria in 1949-50 and the 1998 GalattiAward recipient for outstanding volunteer service. Dick Morrill (IB 7) visited AFS Norway's office this July. He met with Georg Broch, the former National Director andAFS Returnees. Morrill also reconnected with AFS Norway 1947-48 students who participated in the First AFS Bus Trip in 1948 (he was a chaperone on the Trip). AFS

AFS-USA CONFERENCE IN SPOKANE, WA AFS Drivers attended an AFS-USA Regional Conference on October 23 -24, 1999 in Spokane, WA. The Yoshi Hattori Memorial Scholarship was awarded at the conference. Colin Gemmell's (CM 92, IB 60-T) family brought the restored 1942 AFS Dodge ambulance which was installed in the lobby of the hotel for the entire conference. Jack Leonard (CM 88) wore his AFS uniform and gave a keynote speech on AFS at the dinner on October 23. Mayor of Spokane also attended the event. DRIVERS

PARTICIPATE

AFS Driver Fred Balderston Visits China in Support of AFS Life Trustee, Fred Balderston (ME 37, CM 100, IB 59-T) visited China on behalf of AFS in November. Balderston is Professor Emeritus of the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley. While in China, Fred was a guest speaker at luncheons of the American Chamber of Commerce in both Hong Kong and Beijing. He spoke to gatherings of AFS returnees and volunteers in each city and made courtesy calls to donors and the diplomatic community. Christofer Bo Bramsen, the Danish Ambassador to China - an AFS alumnus 1960-61 hosted a reception at his residence for Fred which was attended by ambassadors from eight of the eleven countries which host AFS students from China. Fred also met with representatives of the Chinese Educational Association for International Exchange (CEAIE), the government sponsored organization that works with AFS in China. He went with CEAIE to visit Beijing #12 Middle School which next year may host one of the first AFS year program students to attend school in China. Hats off to Fred for his strong support of our growing programs in China!

Some 0/ thefirst students from China going to USA at an orientation in Beijing (997).

Accessions The following donors presented WWI, WWII and AFS Intercultural Programs materials to AFS Archives in 1999: William A. English; His father, Samuel H. English's (TMU 133, TMU 537) AFS documentation. The materials include copies of English's French army I.D. card issued on August 13, 1917 and an American Mission Driver pass (undated). The pass was written sometime after Mr. English enlisted in the AEF on November II, 1917. John T. Nelson; A signed 1916 menu card and a sermon on the death of Richard Nelville Hall (SSU 3) found among the memorabilia of his father, David. T. Nelson (SSU 1). The menu was designed by Victor White (SSU 1) and included the signatures of all the attendees of the party given by William H. Wolverton (SSU 1) on February 27, 1916 after he was awarded the Croix de Guerre. The Richard Hall sermon was given by the Section's abbe Felix Klein on January 2, 1916 shortly after Hall was killed by shell near Hartsmanssweilerkopf,Alsace,Franceon December 25, 1915. We received a French original of the sermon and an English translation by Nancy Meyers. Ellen B. Cutler; Her grandfather, Jerome Preston's (SSU 15) diary and two obituaries (1995). The edited and self-published copy of the WWI diary kept by Preston in 1917-1918 deals with the experience of a young Harvard student who went to Europe as a volunteer in the Great War. Ralph S. O'Connor; Thomas Henry O'Connor's (SSU 12) WWI scrapbook containing memorabilia of his service with the American Field service in 1917. Eleanora Golobic, Archivist; Videotape "Wings of Glory: The Air Force Story 1914-1945 (The Beginning 1914 - 1939)". The footage features the Flying Aces of the Lafayette Escadrille - Victor Chapman, Norman Prince and Kiffin Rockwell and James R. McConnell (SSU 2) and the Caudron and Nieuport

aircraft. There is also a clip of the Escadrille pilots posing with their pet lion cubs, Whiskey and Soda. Most American volunteers who flew for France with the Lafayette Escadrille had had previous service in the American Field Service or the Foreign Legion. Richard Sinclair (CM 88); "Oneonta Daily Star", April 23, 1918. Front page of the "Oneonta Daily Star" of April 23, 1918 with a photograph of an AFS WWI ambulance donated by Oneonta Citizens and State Normal School to the AFS in France. Richard Sinclair's father, who was on the staff of the "Oneonta Daily Star", saved this clipping. Axel Jansen, AFS Germany Returnee; A copy of Samuel Prescott Fay's (SSU 1) WWI Harvard record. Fay served with the AFS in France from May to September 1915. Fay was an AFS representative for the State of Massachusetts in 1939-45 and was involved in the creation of AFS exchange programs as AFS Director in 1948-52. Dr. Rodolfo Balzarotti, The William G. Congdon Foundation in Milan, Italy; Twenty nine letters from William Congdon's (ME 20, CM 90) war papers, selected from the artist's collection preserved at the Foundation. Congdon's letters to his parents written in 1944-45 during his AFS service in Italy and at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany reflect his humanitarian commitment to civilian welfare work. During the winter of 1943-44 Congdon, in addition to his regular ambulance work, did a "milk run", using his ambulance to carry milk for hungry Italian children in isolated and snowed-in mountain

towns. Congdon rejected the military as a means to end the war, but felt that he has been making a contribution to Peace by working within the AFS's nonmilitary framework (letter ofJanuary 7, 1944). Ward Chamberlin (ME 37, CM 104, IE 59-T) and AFS Life Trustee; His speech "Churchill and the Italian Campaign" (1991). A copy of the speech given by Ward Chamberlin at the International Churchill Conference in Richmond, VA on November 1-5, 1991. This retrospective account includes Churchill's views on the Italian campaign, reminiscences on the Cassino battle and AFS anecdotes. Howard Allen (ME 35, FFC); The Red Cross flag flown on his ambulance when Allen evacuated wounded in frontline areas in North Africa and Italy in 19431944. Mrs. Constance Lamprell: Laser prints of photos taken by her late husband, Bill Lamprell (ME 38, CM 86, IE 59T) during his AFS service in Italy in 1943-1944, a photo of Robert Wood (ME 38) and his Cassino account "Winkle Corner". This account written in June 1944 describes the perilous evacuation of a wounded soldier by Lamprell and Wood at Rocca d'Avandro during the battle of Cassino.

AMERICAN

Walter Doyle (CM 41); Three written accounts "AnItalian Regiment in the Mountains on the Cassino Front", "A German Army Hospital in Rome" (reproduced above) and "The AFS and the Metropolitan Opera." Allan Prince (CM 43); His diary "The American Field Service Experience in World War II: June 29, 1943 September 30, 1944", photographs of the Italian campaign, and an AFS WWI publication "Ambulance No. 10, Personal Letters from the Front" by Leslie Buswell (SSU 2), published in 1916. Additional comments and recollections were added to the original diary in 1998. Prince was a member ofC Platoon 485 Coy and participated in the battle of Cassino (March - May 1944). He witnessed the death of Lt. Robert Bryan on May 17,1944. Clifford Bissler (IE 31); A videotape of his receiving an award of the Purple Heart Medal in Florida on December 6, 1989. Bissler, who served with the AFS in Burma, was grievously wounded in the battle of Mandalay on March 10, 1945. Sen. Graham of Forida presented the award.

FIELD SERVICE

Hugh Lamberton (ME 32); Laser print of an Advanced Dressing Station on rt. 6 in view of Monte Cassino, Italy. Mr. Lamberton who served with B Platoon 485 Coy watched the bombing of Cassino from this aid station.

Richard Allemang (CM 67); Sixteen captioned photographs taken during the Italian campaign 1944-1945. Alexander Parker (ME 16, CM 92); "The Two Types" by Jon (ca. 1944), a WWII cartoon booklet published by the British Army Newspaper Unit, C.M.F.

John W Leonard (CM 88); his account of the Spokane Regional Conference and the keynote speech. Albert A. Fisk (ME 18); ''A War Memoir". In this personal account written in 1999 Fisk recalled his experience of AFS ambulance service in Syria and North Africa in 1942-43. Thomas Sawyer (IB 11, CM 95-T); Laser print map of his route across India and Assam into Burma (Nov. 29, 1943-Jan. 20, 1945). Sawyer traced his AFS tour from Poona to Yazegoin Kabaw Valley of Burma on a National Geographic map of India (1997). Sawyer served as an AFS ambulance driver with the 3rd Company in India-Burma, 1943-45. He was transferred to 567 Coy in Italy in Feb. 1945 and to the British Liberation Army front in April 1945. James H. Scott II (CM 41, FR 8); His short story "A Wild Goose Chase" (1999). This humorous story recounts the trials of a fowl hunt during the Italian campaIgn. Philip Litchfield (CM 63); A photograph of an AFS ambulance damaged by enemy shell in Italy and a photograph of New Zealand WWII veteran, O'Rourke, with an AFS WWI ambulance rebuilt in New Zealand for the celebration of AFS New Zealand's 50th Anniversary in 1997. John A. Pummell; 1945 photographs of his father, Harold Pummell (CM 94), and other AFS 485 Coy drivers in Italy and Austria. Hugh Gemmell; Photos of D- Day 1999 in Portland, Oregon.

AFS Japan; An audio recording of President John F. Kennedy's address to the AFS students at the White House on July 18, 1963. President Kennedy made the speech to departing AFS students who gathered in Washington, D.C. after a year of study in the United States. We are reproducing quotes from this address. (See page 15 of Janus for excerpts from this address) AFS-USA; 50th Anniversary documentation and AFSUSA program materials, "Volunteer Action Pack: An Area Team Chair's Guide to Discussions with YFU" andAFS-USAAnnual Report 1997 "1947-1997 AFS Celebrates 50 years Of Changing the World One Person at a Time". AFS-USA; AFS Japan Association anniversary publication "40 Years of AFS Japan". The publication includes a foreword by Richard Spencer, interviews with participants, student photos, program statistics, the 40th Anniversary Symposium; charts, country information and a list of AFS program publications. John Edwards, former Treasurer of AFS Pasadena Chapter; Chapter records including correspondence, minutes of meetings, financial records, photos, student rosters, newsletters, 1964-1986. Elga Bier, former AFS staff; "United Nations Old Timers Reunion Dinner 2 August 1997", a list of AFS Returnees, Staff, Volunteers, Host Parents and Drivers who attended the Old Timers Reunion Dinner at the UN on August 2, 1997. Baerbel Helmers and Rosemarie Popp, AFS Germany; Bulletin No.178, vol. 35, National Association of Secondary School Principals (1951). The Bulletin contains contributions by the 1950-51 AFS German Returnees - Ursula Sachs and Rosemarie Popp (Zirpel). The issue belonged to Rosemarie Popp.

AFS Austria; 50th Anniversary publication "Intercultura Forever Young! 50 Jahre AFS Osterreich"(May 1999). Suzanne Sebert, AFS Director of External Relations, USASPGER59; Three audio tapes of the AFS 50th Anniversary celebration taped at the events on August 1, 1997, on the QE2 and at the UN "Old Timers" Dinner on August 2, 1997. AFS Finland; Two videos of the conference of the International Confederation of Principals (ICP) held in Helsinki in July 1999 which was attended by Suzanne Sebert and Ebbe Skovdal, Interim President of AFS International Oliver Hartmann, AFS Germany volunteer; Digital prints of AFS WWII Drivers Arthur Howe Jr. (ME 2) and Chick Squire (ME 37, IB 57) and the German President Hertzog at the AFS Germany 50th Anniversary Celebration in May 1998.

Membership in the China-Burma-India Veterans Association (CBIVA) A September 6, 1999 motion made by Lee Chalifour (lAAS) at the National Reunion of the China-BurmaIndia Veterans Association (CBIVA), now allows any AFS Driver who served in India-Burma to apply for regular membership in the CBIVA organization. CBIVA is a U.S. Veterans organization with a total membership of7,000 members including 239 Chapters, called "Basha", the Indian/Burmese word for house. If interested, submit your membership application specifying that you are an AFS Ambulance Driver to the CBIVA National Adjutant/Finance Officer at P.O.Box 780676, Orlando, FL 32878-0776. A five-year membership in the CBIVA is $35.00 and a one-year membership is $8.00.

Rosemary Whitcraft, Corporate Development Manager AFS Thailand; photograph of Keiichiro Enomoto, Vice President of Mitsui & Co (Thailand) and an AFS Japan Returnee with Tami Muto, Director of AFS Japan Association and Likit Khemapanon, National Director of AFS Thailand and a former International Trustee.

We are pleased to inform the Drivers of a recent publication that includes references to AFS service in World War II. A Tent in This World by William Fense Weaver (ME 37) published by McPherson & Company, Kingston, N.Y., 1999, $20.00. This autobiographical novel was first published in Italy (in the journal "Bottegghe Oscure" in 1950). The book written in the form of a diary chronicles six weeks in the autumn of 1947 when 24 year old Weaver revisited Naples, a city familiar to him from the AFS WWII service three and a half years earlier. Weaver'sjournal conveys his determination to "get as far into Italy as I can" and also his knowledge that as a foreigner he will never wholly absorb the Italian way of life.

We Are All Connected - Drivers on E-Mail The following is an updated list of Drivers' e-mail addresses. Please let us know if you know of Drivers not listed below, who have e-mail. We also invite you to visit our Web site http://www.afs.org where you can register in the AFS "Find-A-Friend" Database.

Lewis Harned (CM 41) C Plat. 485 Coy

Richard Allemang (CM 67) A Plat. 485 Coy

Howard Mayhew (CM 96, IB 60-T) D Plat. 567 Coy

Russell Ashmun (CM 45) D Plat. 485 Coy

Allan Prince (CM 43) C Plat. 485 Coy

Frederick Balderston (ME 37, CM 100, IB 59-T) C Plat. 485 Coy

Lloyd Stephen Riford (CM 41, FR 8) C Plat. 485 Coy

Thomas Barbour (ME 28) C Plat. 567 Coy

Paul Rodgers, Jr. (ME 32, FR 8) A Plat. 567 Coy

Walter Brethauer (ME 19, CM 94, IB 59-T) 567 Coy

James H. Scott II (CM 41, FR 8) B Plat. 567 Coy

William Cantrall (CM 92) D Plat. 485 Coy

Chick Squire (ME 37, IB 57) A Plat. 567 Coy

Ward Chamberlin (ME 37, CM 104, IB 59-T) HQ, C Plat. 485 Coy

Barry Tome (CM 45) D Plat. 485 Coy

Walter Doyle (CM 41) D Plat. 567 Coy

Gene Vasilew (ME 32) B Plat. 485 Coy

Charles "Fox" Edwards (ME 26) C Plat. 567 Coy

Dennis A. Weaver (ME 16, FR 4) A Plat. 567 Coy

Jack French (CM 97, IB 59-T) C Plat. 485 Coy

Richard Whorrall (CM 96, IB 60-T) C Plat. 567 Coy

Walter Goodwillie (CM 90, IB 60-T) A Plat. 567 Coy

Charles N. Winship (ME 1, IB 1)

Philip Litchfield (CM 63) D Plat. 485 Coy

John G. Wright (CM 40, FR 8) B Plat. 567 Coy Gene Hammond (ME 16, CM 92) A Plat. 567 Coy

Web Sites on the History of AFS An early history of the AFS "Friends of France. The Field Service of the American Ambulance described by its members" (1916) is now a part of documentation of the WWI Document Archive on the Web. This AFS WWI publication includes essays by A. P. Andrew, S. Galatti and photographs of AFS volunteers in France in WWI. http:// raven.cc.ukans.edul ~libsite/wwi-www/Friends France/fITChtm The WWI Document Archive Web site also includes excerpts from an AFS WWI Driver diary - "At the Front In A Flivver" (1917) by William Yorke Stevenson (SSU 1). http://www.lib.byu.edu/ ~rdhl wwil ''America in the War: The Vanguard of American Volunteers in the Fighting Lines and in Humanitarian Service, August 1914 - April, 191 T by Edwin Morse (1919) is a part of the WWI Document Archive. The part IV of Morse's book (American Ambulances in France) deals with the American Field Service Ambulance Service. http://raven.ccukans.edu/ ~libsite/wwiwww/AmerVolunteers/MorseTChtm

A Model T Ford ambulance (an ambulance used by AFS in France in WWI) displayed in the U.S. Air Force Museum at the Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio is featured on the Museum's Web site. The ambulance insignia indicate that it was used by Section 627 of the United States Ambulance Service following the militarization of theAFS in the fall in 1917. http://www.wpafb.af.millmuseum/vfe/vfe7.htm The on-line edition of Edward Rickenbacker's WWI memoirs (1919) has been made available on the War Times Journal Archives Web site. Captain Rickenbacker was one of the commanders of the U.S. 94th Squadron which included many former pilotsof the Lafayette Escadrille. Rickenbacker witnessed the death of Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt, the son of President Theodore Roosevelt, in the dogfight east of Chateau-Thierry on July 14,1918. Lt. Quentin Roosevelt was an uncle of an AFS WWII Driver, Dirck Roosevelt (CM 100). http://www.richthofen.com/ rickenbacker Eugene Hammond's (ME 16, CM 92) response to Robert Cull's query on the battle of Termoli http:// www.hwy56.com/warlinks/termoli/index.htmland his account on AFS's and Charlie Perkins' (ME 16, CM 87) servicein the North African campaign, which led to Perkins' captivity is found at http://www.hwy5 6.com/warlinks/pages/hammond.html. This site also includes Walter Doyle's Termoli account. http:// www.hwy56.com/warlinks/pages/afs.html#perkins

"Ambulancing at the French Front" by Edward Coyle (1918), a memoir by the member of the N ortonHarjes Ambulance Corps is also available on the Web. Coyle was present at the siege of Verdun and described his experiences in trench warfare, with chapters on snipers, camouflage, hand grenades and observation balloons. http://raven.cc. ukans.edul ~libsite/wwiwww/Coyle/CoyleTChtm

Joseph Desloge's (ME 4, FFC, CM 94, IE 59-T) autobiography, "Passport To Manhood: Adventures of a WWII Front Line Ambulance Driver with the British and the French Foreign Legion" (1995) is now on the Web. http://www.icon-stl.net/~jdesloge/afs.html.

An article by Stev~ Ruediger on literary ambulance drivers in World War I has been posted on-line. Mr. Ruediger consulted the AFS Archives in the early 1990's. http://members.aol.com/sruedigerllitamb.htm

AFS Drivers interested in the specifics of the WWII Dodge ambulances can access the Web page of the Dodge WW2 Archive. http://www. powerup. com.aul ~djrlarchive.html

LAST POST WILLIAM

B. BERGER

3,192529,1999)

(NOVEMBER JUNE

We at AF S Intercultural Programs lost one of our most distinguished founders, William Merriam Bart Berger, who passed away at age 73 on June 29, 1999 in Denver, Colorado. Widely known as a Mutual Fund Manager, Berger was also an Art Collector. William Berger was born in Denver, Colorado. He was the great-grandson of one of the founders of the Colorado National Bank. He attended the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut and Yale. Berger learned of the American Field Service while he was a freshman at Yale University. Edward N. Seccombe, a WWI Driver and an AFS WWII Connecticut Representative approved his AFS application. Berger volunteered for the American Field Service as an ambulance driver in June 1944, and was sent overseas with Unit CM 89 on August 19, 1944. Berger was attached to "D" Platoon of AFS 485 Coy and served with the British 8th Army in Italy in 1944-45. He was repatriated on July 16, 1945. For his service in the Italian campaign he was awarded the British medals: The 1939-45 Star, Italy Star, and the War Medal 1939-45.

L to R: Don Colvin (CM 50), David Becker, Lieutenant of D Platoon 485 Coy (ME 4, CM 50) and William Berger (CM 89) discuss ambulance postings at car post south of Bologna, Italy, April 1945.

Berger supported the newly founded AFS student program and served as AFS Regional Chairman in Denver in 1949. He attended the 50th Anniversary Reunion of the American Field Service in Williamsburg, VA in October 1995. Berger started one of the first mutual funds in Colorado. He began managing equity portfolios for the Colorado National Bank in 1950. He became a Vice President and portfolio manager for the Financial Programs asset-management company (which later became Invesco Funds) in 1963. In 1974, Berger founded Berger Associates (the fundmanagement company) and sold it in 1994. He was a Board member of the Denver Art Museum Foundation and the investment committee of the Denver Foundation and served as Chairman of the Urban League of Colorado.

Berger established The Berger Collection, a vast collection of British art at the Denver Art Museum. In 1998 the WM. Berger Charitable Trust and the Denver Art Museum published 600 lears of British Painting: The Berger Collection, an art catalogue of the collection dating from the medieval period through the 20th century. Bob Balderston (ME 37, CM 100, IB 59-T), a Denver area resident spoke at the commemorative ceremony celebrating the life of Bill Berger held at the Denver Art Museum on July 6, 1999. We reproduce his remarks below: Bill Berger and I werejust 18 when wejoined the American Field Service. It was a real eye opener. The British 8th Army allotted us a monthly liquor ration. Part of my job was to obtain, guard and distribute it. That was like the keys to Fort Knox. It was worth its weight in gold. One day an over-eager British Colonel decided we were getting too much and he wanted to know just why. I explained to him that we always included in the ration those who were no longer among us and we put them down so we could have a drink in their memory. Bill shared those extra memories along with all of us.

We were sorry to learn of the recent passing of Mrs. Bernice D. Reaser, the widow of Robert A. Reaser (SSU 32). Mr. Reaser served as an AFS ambulance driver in 1917. He supported the AFS student exchange programs and served as an AFS Regional Chairman in Briarcliff Manor, NY in 1949. Mr. Reaser was electedAFS Officer in 1950-51 and became one of the first Directors of the Field Service (1950-1953). Mrs. Reaser left a bequest to AFS-USA.

Robert McLean Campbell, M.B.E.,

CM41