The Janus - September 2006

A PUBLICATION OF AFS INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES AND COMMUNICATIONS

IN THIS ISSUE UN Lunch 2006....................1-2 J. Brian Atwood Elected Chairperson............................3

SEPTEMBER 2006

AFS International UN Lunch Celebrates Intercultural Understanding

AFS 2005 World Congress.........4 Journey Back......................5-6 2005 Galatti Award.............7-8 AFS Needs Your Support...........8 Raymond Mitchell’s O.B.E. award..........................9 John F. Kennedy As We Remember Him..............10-12 Save The Date......................12 Message to AFS Veterans........13 Save The Date......................13 An Ambulance Driver Revisits Bergen-Belsen...............14-15 Drivers’ News......................16 Our Story website................16 Update on the Legacy Project.................................17 Walter B. Doyle....................18 AFS Program Founders.......19 WWII Last Post 2005-2006..19 Announcements..................20

EDITORIAL STAFF: Eleanora Golobic Archivist & Editor Ebbe Skovdal Director for Development, Marketing and Communications Mila Mendez Designer

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Jan Eliasson speaks at the AFS UN Lunch, New York, May 19, 2006.

an Eliasson, the President of the Sixtieth session of the United Nations General Assembly, new foreign minister of Sweden and also a former AFS student (Sweden to USA 1957-58), delivered an eloquent keynote address stressing the importance of intercultural understanding as an antidote to our global problems. Eliasson addressed an audience that included more than 20 ambassadors and 35 consuls general, four World War II AFS ambulance drivers, two former presidents of AFS International, representatives of the Board of AFS-USA, key AFS donors, and staff from both AFS International and AFS-USA were also among the invited guests at a luncheon hosted at the United Nations by AFS International on May 19, 2006. Among the AFS returnees present were the Malaysian Ambassador Hamidon Ali (Malaysia to USA 1967-68), Ambassador of Austria Gerhard Pfanzelter (Austria to USA 1959-60), Manoel de Almeida e Silva, Chief, UN Dept. of Public Information and a former AFS Trustee (Brazil to USA 196970), and Ambassador and Consul General of Brazil José Alfredo Graça Lima (Brazil to USA 1963-64). In attendance were Richard Spencer and Arthur Howe, Jr., former Presidents of AFS International.

Eliasson said he was pleasantly surprised at the number of former AFS participants among the diplomats and ambassadors present at the luncheon.

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Tachi Cazal and J. Brian Atwood with AFS students Briana Orr and Prutha Desai.

Recalling his own AFS experience, he said it had introduced in his mind the possibility that he would make the UN and diplomacy his life’s work. He then remarked on the power of personal relationships, in what proved to be the recurring theme of the event.

J. Brian Atwood, chairman of the AFS International board, noted that AFS was honoring Eliasson as a diplomat and a fellow AFSer who is “about to complete a very difficult assignment, the presidency of the United Nations General Assembly.” Atwood said that Eliasson, “in performing his work, has never allowed the very good to become the victim of the Noting that the world is in a period of turmoil and perfect. What he has achieved will give new impetus great danger and that there are gaps in our ability to our collective desire for a world that respects the to understand and respect each other, Eliasson human rights of individuals and pursues systems of described the importance he places on cultural government that offer democratic institutions that exchanges as an antidote to the numerous global will protect the inalienable rights of all people.” problems that the world is facing. “The United Nations is not an abstraction,” he added, “we are The luncheon closed with presentations by AFS the symbol of international cooperation. With the students Briana Orr who participated in an AFS enormous challenges ahead of us, it is imperative Community Service Program in Paraguay in 2005, that we work together.” and Prutha Desai, a current participant (2006-07) from India to the USA. Their remarks brought home Francisco Cazal, President of AFS International, the enduring spirit of AFS programs. thanked the event sponsors, MasterCard Advisors and Ambassador Gerhard Pfanzelter from Austria. (The 2005 Annual Report of AFS International lists Cazal stated his hope that the event would “serve more than 75 diplomats with AFS exchange student not only as an opportunity to enjoy each other’s connections. If you would like a copy, please request company but also to reflect on the importance of it from Eleanora Golobic.) bringing the people of our world closer together”.

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J. Brian Atwood Elected Chairperson of AFS International’s Board of Trustees

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n January 29, 2006 AFS International announced the election of J. Brian Atwood as the Chairperson of its Board of Trustees.

Atwood, who is the Dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute J. Brian Atwood of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota since 2002, held the vice chair position of the AFS International Board in 2005. Atwood was the first President of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) from 1986-1993 and built this democratic development institution into a major international force for the promotion of democracy. Atwood has received numerous awards for public service, including the U.S. Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award.

“I feel privileged to serve as Chair of an organization that played such an important role in shaping my outlook on life” said Atwood, who was an AFS exchange student (USA to Luxembourg 1959), “I look forward to working with President Francisco Cazal and other members of AFS International’s Board of Trustees in expanding and strengthening the AFS network. I would like to see AFS better recognized for its contribution to world peace.

We face a more fragile international community where tensions among peoples are accentuated by leaders who seem often to exploit differences for short term gain. Intercultural learning is the most effective antidote to tensions among people and no organization does this work better than AFS.” Atwood’s distinguished career includes six years as Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International

Development (USAID) from 1993-1999 in the Clinton administration. Atwood helped promote a number of highly successful initiatives in the areas of global climate change, democratization, conflict prevention and health. Prior to serving as head of USAID he was Under Secretary of State for Management. Atwood led presidential delegations to Haiti, El Salvador and East Africa and was a presidential envoy to Eastern Zaire during the exodus of refugees caused by the Rwanda genocide. He served as President Clinton’s Humanitarian Relief Coordinator during the Kosovo crisis.

In December 1998, President Clinton nominated Atwood as Ambassador to Brazil. Atwood withdrew prior to Senate confirmation to create Citizens International, an organization that designs and manages public and private social development investments to meet the needs of developing nations.

In 2001, Atwood served on United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan’s Panel on Peace Operations.

He also served on the Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board, the Center for Strategic International Studies/ U.S. Army Association Commission to study PostConflict Reconstruction and the Council on Foreign Relations task force. During the Carter administration he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations.

“We are truly excited about the role that the newly elected Board members will play, under the leadership of Brian Atwood, in supporting AFS’s ambitious plans and leading the organization forward. Our commitment to continue to deliver on our core values of enabling people to act as responsible global citizens and to work for peace and understanding in a diverse world, will be well served by this board.”, said Francisco Cazal, President of AFS International.

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AFS 2005 World Congress Reaffirms Vision 2010

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rancisco Cazal, President of AFS International reaffirmed the Vision 2010 for AFS in his address at the the final plenary of the 2005 AFS World Congress. The Congress was held on September 21-23 in Torino, Italy. The Vision Statement informs the actions of AFS until the end of the decade for the organization to become a leader in intercultural education; enable people to become global citizens and neighbors; embody diversity; bring people and organizations together and, contribute to society through voluntarism.

in conjunction with the anniversary. On Wednesday, September 23 the Opening Dinner for the Congress was held at the Royal Palace in Torino. The dinner concluded with an award ceremony held in honor of the first ever AFS Student Essay Competition.

The competition was designed to encourage AFS participants to submit essays written on the theme of “Peace Through Understanding.” Hundreds of essays were submitted and the three award winners; Silvia Gambino from Italy, Hart Ford-Hodges from the United States and Saraa Pihlman from Finland were presented with certificates for the best three essays.

Mr. Cazal stated that for AFS to remain true On Saturday, September to its vision statement, 26, AFS celebrated the the organization needs International Day of to continue working Peace. The delegates to towards obtaining more the World Congress were funding to provide invited to attend the official AFS participants with ceremony of Intercultura’s scholarships, further 50th Anniversary at the develop its volunteer Teatro Regio in Torino. The corps, expand into distinguished speakers, the new countries, commit Honorable Tadatoshi Akiba, resources to more J. Brian Atwood, Helle Jarlmose, Victor Oporto and Mayor of Hiroshima (Japan educational research Tachi Cazal with Silvia Gambino, Saraa Pihlman and to USA 1959-60) and Ole regarding the benefits of Hart Ford-Hodges.

Danbolt Mjøs, Chairman of the AFS experience, and the Nobel Peace Committee explore new programs and activities. “We have an spoke to the audience on the keynote theme of “Peace abiding commitment to maintaining and strengthening Education Through Student Exchanges.” The closing the work of AFS and to our effort to create a more just ceremony was enhanced by the presence on stage of and peaceful world,” said Mr. Cazal, “We will need to many AFS participants from all over the world who maintain our emphasis on organizational growth and are spending their program year in Italy. nurture our desire for greater accountability for all we do. Trust, communication and cooperation within In closing, Francisco Cazal stated that “The keywords our organization will help maintain AFS’ relevance for AFS as we continue to move towards our Vision and the continued success of its programs, today, and 2010 are: Trust, Synergy, Solidarity, Commitment, in the future. and Planning. We hope that we will be celebrating the achievement of the goals so clearly stated in The World Congress, which was celebrated along with our Vision Statement and even more substantial Italy’s AFS Partner, Intercultura’s, 50th Anniversary achievements when we come together for our World Celebration, was enriched by events planned for, and Congress in 2010.”

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Journey Back: An AFS Driver’s Memories of France, 1944-45

By Arthur Williams (FR 4)

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Di Yan - China

n May 10th, I returned from a seven-day trip to places in countries where I had been 62 years ago as a young AFS volunteer ambulance driver with the French First Army in a French Moroccan Mountain Division during World War II. My sons, Nate and John, thought that their dad, approaching a significant birthday, might like to retrace his steps through Europe where he served in 1944-45. My boys knew I was a lousy tourist who would rather look at a good glass of wine than stained-glass windows. They were right!

In both world wars, AFS supplied ambulance drivers to Allied armies. I cannot say that I was that patriotic, but I knew the cause was just and that the Germans and Japanese had to be defeated. But for me, at the time, I felt that I would rather have faced the entire German army than my high-school biology teacher. So I found myself on a ship plowing through the stormy North Atlantic in November to Naples, Italy and then on to southern France, with a group of young Americans, some new to this and some having served in North Africa with the British and French armies.

In May of 2006, armed with information and maps from AFS archives, we flew into Zurich and drove to the beautiful town of Feldkirch, Austria where we started our trip in reverse from where the war had ended for me. My 1944 trip had started in St. Remy in France, where we were quartered in the one-time asylum where Van Gogh had cut off his ear. After two weeks on hard floors with no heat and little plumbing, I was ready to cut off more than my ear to get out of there.

Arthur Williams in 1944.

In Feldkirch in May 2006, I tried to locate two onceyoung girls I had become good friends with at the end of the War. After much searching, we stopped at the tourist office where a nice woman got on the phone and was able to speak to the younger brother of one of the girls. He remembered that when he was 12, I was the American with the French Army who had driven him and his friends around in a jeep and given them his chocolate ration. Unfortunately, his sister had recently died.

We then headed up through the Black Forest where we had evacuated allied and German wounded. I remember being ordered to evacuate prisoners in a concentration camp who were just left lying there in their striped pajamas; nothing but vacant stares and voices that said little. The German guards had fled the camp hours before the allied advance.

With the help of a fellow AFS driver, Ned Kelley, I found a hotel that had been a German hospital in 1944 just outside of Freudenstadt and Baden-Baden.

It was now serving as a youth hostel.

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After our usual wine and beer stops, the boys and through the allied forces’ front lines in the ArI spent the night in Baden-Baden, known for its dennes Forest in the Battle of the Bulge. German mineral water baths. Fellow drivers visited some soldiers who spoke good English had obtained of these baths in April 1945 attended by helpuniforms from prisoners or dead Americans. Beful employees who were friendly to our soldiers cause of this deception, American MPs would even though the war was still on. The closest I make American soldiers prove who they were came to being taken prisoner was when I agreed by asking us questions such as who played third with a French medical officer to load some badly base for the Dodgers. They could not have asked wounded Germans in my vehicle and allow a a less-informed sports fan than me. AFS drivers German army doctor to ride in front with me to were somewhat suspicious looking because we find the German hospital and enter enemy tersported an assortment of allied uniforms. One ritory. An armed Moroccan man with me was even soldier rode in back of my wearing a pair of German ambulance. Unfortunately, army-issue “jack boots” he he fell asleep as soon as had picked up somewhere, we started and stayed that but that was not what you way for most of the trip. The wanted to be wearing when medical staff invited me to checked by American MPs. stay for dinner, probably because they were surprised On May 7 we spent the to see a young American night at Vieux Thann, Di Yan - China with the French Army. The near the Belfort Gap in Germans were friendly; the Vosges Mountains of they knew the war was just eastern France, where I about over and didn’t show had spent a week or two hostility. It was pouring in December 1944 in a rain when I returned to the makeshift aid center in the ambulance, which became mountains. stuck in the mud in spite of four-wheel drive. The The next day May 8th V.E. Moroccan soldier was still day (Victory in Europe Day) Arthur Williams at a monument to the French asleep. The German doctor our first stop was Vieil ArParatroopers of WWII, near Masevaux, May 8, 2006. with me went into the hosmand, and from there we pital ward and came out took off over a mountain with ten or more sick or wounded solders and road that I had traveled in 1944 at night through ordered them to lift up my ambulance out of the the ice and snow with no headlights, carrying mud and place it on the road. the wounded and many other soldiers whose feet were blackened by frostbite. One time, my The next day on the 2006 revisit, we left Badenambulance skidded and dangled over a cliff. My Baden and crossed the Rhine below Strasbourg assistant had dislocated his shoulder, so I had to Colmar where there was a military museum to pull the stretchers out one by one being very representing the long and bloody battle to recareful not to rock the ambulance off the cliff capture Colmar where the German army, in one with the wounded and me inside. On top of this last desperate attempt to stop the Allies, broke mountain pass, which led to a hospital in a town

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called Masevaux, there is now a monument 200 yards off the road erected to the French Paratroopers of WWII. In the rain and fog, my sons and I heard music from the valley below celebrating VE day and honoring those who had died.

After spending the night near Besançon, we headed back to Zurich for our flight to Boston. This trip to the past brought back many memories, and reminded us what a toll war takes no matter the cause, not only on the soldiers but the innocent civilians.

(I would particularly like to thank AFS archivist Eleanora Golobic for all her help in planning our trip. She sent me transcripts of journals kept by AFS veterans who served with the First French Army—Maj. Charles Coster, Lt. Warren Fugitt and Sgt. “Bud”Roberts; thus I was able to compare their records with my recollections. Also, my friend Ned Kelley, who served with me in the 3rd Battalion of the 4th French Moroccan, reminded me of where we had been and what had happened in certain localities. I am also grateful to the staff of AFS France for their support with the trip.)

2005 Galatti Award Honors AFS Volunteers

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he Galatti Award, named after AFS founder Stephen Galatti is the most prestigious commendation granted by the AFS International Board of Trustees. Established in 1983, the Galatti Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service recognizes and honors community volunteers whose commitment and exceptional dedication have advanced the mission and goals of AFS at the grass-root level.

Last December AFS announced the 2005 Galatti Award winners who have a combined 116 years of dedicated volunteer service to AFS: Grace Fernandez from Costa Rica, Maija Nykänen from Finland, Eulalia Fleitas de Royg from Paraguay, and Tanju Verda Akan from Turkey.

Grace Fernandez has played many roles and has worn many hats at AFS Costa Rica for the past 17 years. She is an AFS returnee (Costa Rica to USA 1978-79) and has worked tirelessly at

the local and national levels. Grace has been instrumental in the establishment of four local chapters, including San Jose Este. Since 2000 she has been President of the San Jose Este Chapter.

She served as Treasurer of the National Volunteer Association (1991-2002) and has been National Events Coordinator since 1988. In 2002 Grace received the AFS Costa Rica Volunteer of the Year Award.

Maija Nykänen has a remarkable skill at combining people of different generations to work together and has dedicated 15 years of her life to AFS. She has helped program participants from different cultures understand each other and adjust to Finnish culture. Since 1997 she has served as Chairperson and a Board Member of the Tampere chapter. Maija served one term in the National Board of AFS Finland and participated in the AFS Finland General Assemblies. Her family hosted 13 students since 1990.

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Eulalia (Lala) Fleitas de Royg has devoted her time and energy volunteering for AFS Paraguay for 39 years since her return from an AFS experience to the United States in 1966. Lala has walked and followed the path of AFS and she is the organization’s volunteer extraordinaire.

She has been on the board of AFS Paraguay and is a Member of Education Committee and Counselor. She was Chair and Vice-President of AFS Paraguay and has served as President of the local chapter in Concepcion for 27 years.

Reflecting her belief in the value of intercultural learning is her creation of a Primary School with the local AFS Committee of Education (2002).

She has hosted several times and three of her children participated in the program. Lala is the heart of AFS in her local community, and the soul of AFS Paraguay.

Tanju Verda Akan, a former International Trustee (1995-1999) began her journey of 45 years with AFS as a student from Turkey to the USA in 195960. She has participated in volunteer organizations both in Turkey and abroad. Tanju is one of the founders of TKV (Turkish Cultural Foundation - the organization that runs AFS programs in Turkey). She has served as National Chairperson (1995-97) and a Board Member of TKV. Her two children participated in a year program to USA and summer program.

Tanju hosted a U.S. student in 1984 and has been an advisor for Rotary Student Exchange programs in Turkey. Tanju is an architect, who besides being involved actively in business has always found time for volunteer work and has been responsible for many AFS successes.

AFS Needs Your Support for the AFS Ambulance Driver Campaign

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FS International and AFS-USA joined to collaborate on the AFS Ambulance Driver Fundraising Campaign. Drivers will be mailed information describing the many ways in which to contribute to AFS in the fall.

We hope that you will review the materials we will send you regarding the campaign. We thank you for considering supporting AFS’ important work of promoting peace through intercultural understanding. If you have any questions regarding your giving options please contact Amy Rome, Director of Development at AFS-USA or Ebbe Skovdal, Director of Development at AFS International.

Amy Rome can be reached at 212-299-9000, ext.1103, e-mail at arome@afs.org and Ebbe Skovdal can be reached at 212-807-8686, ext.

131, e-mail at eskovdal@afs.org.

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Presentation of Raymond McKim Mitchell’s Order of the British Empire to AFS

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special ceremony honoring the late Raymond (Ray) McKim Mitchell (ME 39) was held at AFS International on June 21st, Ray Mitchell’s family, Tachi Cazal, President of AFS International, Ward Chamberlin, an AFS Life Trustee and AFS International staff attended the event. The Mitchell family presented the Order of the British Empire (OBE) medal that Ray received from the British Crown to Tachi Cazal, who accepted it on behalf of AFS. The Mitchell family also donated Ray’s papers and memorabilia (including correspondence with Stephen Galatti) to the AFS Archives.

The speakers included Mitchell’s sons, Kim and Douglas, his Italian host son Antonioangelo (Tony) Pinna, his granddaughter Catherine Murcek and Ward Chamberlin, an AFS Life Trustee and a WWII Driver. Ward recalled his war service under Mitchell (he became Commanding Officer of the 485 Company when Ray left in June of 1945) and spoke of the steadying influence Mitchell had on his life and actions. Ward learned during the meeting that Mitchell recommended him to Stephen Galatti to lead both AFS companies on the way to India in 1945. Tony Pinna who was hosted by the Mitchells in 1955-56 spoke about the lifelong connection with his AFS family and how lucky he was to have two dads, one in Italy and one in the USA. Kim talked about the family’s decision to give the award to AFS: “It is just right that this Order of the British Empire be saved in the AFS archives, to be seen by the next generations. For Dad it is like coming back home.”

Douglas reminisced about growing up with AFS brothers and Catherine read the citation accompanying the award.

Raymond McKim Mitchell (1912-2001) served as an AFS Driver in the Middle East and Italy

Ward Chamberlin, Kim Mitchell and Tachi Cazal displaying the OBE award and citation.

(1943-45) and became an AFS Major at the end of the war. He was wounded in action on May 21, 1944 during his service in Italy. Mitchell was recognized for his service as Commanding Officer of AFS 485 Company in Italy. He was appointed as honorary officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1945, a distinction earned by only 11 AFS officers in WWII. Mitchell received the OBE medal from Lord Inverchapel, British Ambassador to the United States at the British Embassy in Washington on December 17, 1946.

Mitchell’s commitment to AFS continued in the post-war years when he was elected to the AFS Board of Directors and founded an AFS chapter in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Mitchell served as the chapter’s President and over the years he and his wife Marian hosted students from Italy, Austria and Japan. The AFS tradition continues with Mitchell’s granddaughter Amelia who is participating in the Community Service program in Paraguay this summer.

The audience was deeply touched by the Mitchell’s award presentation. It was a very moving and memorable tribute to a true AFS pioneer!

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John F. Kennedy: As We Remember Him…

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or many AFS students of the 1950’s and 1960’s meeting U.S. Presidents in Washington was a special highlight of their year in the United States. President John F. Kennedy received AFS students on the White House Lawn for three years between 1961 and 1963 and spoke to them informally. JFK’s speeches held a strong sense of hope for peace that AFS audience embodied. The AFS Archives has asked some of those who were present to tell about their memories of the President. These are brief excerpts from those recollections that testify that this brief connection lasted a lifetime.

Yes, I was in the front row. There was Steve Galatti. Kennedy was walking on the veranda.

It’s only 50 years ago. I just remember that he seemed like one of us. He was so much in favor of these exchanges and said something similar to the speech of ‘63, “Now you go home and remember you have friends here.” It was a moving speech. A lot of people were crying.

Ezio Vergani, Former Chair AFS International Board of Trustees Italy to USA 1961-62 The most memorable experience during the bus trip (bus #16), was really when we visited President Kennedy on the White House lawn on July 11, 1962.

Jeanne (Douwes) van Ammers Netherlands to USA 1961-62

No American has ever been more trusted, more admired, and more loved by Swedish AFS students than has John F. Kennedy.

His courage and energy, his imagination and sober idealism, I still remember his clear reason and President John F. Kennedy addressing 2,560 AFS my year as the first brilliant intellect was students on the White House lawn, July 18, 1963. group of AFS from a constant source of Thailand to USA in 1962-1963. After our term encouragement and inspiration for us. had finished, we had a bus trip from Michigan to Martin Wilkens, Washington D C. The highlight of the bus trip, beVice-President Swedish Returnees sides knowing new friends who had the wonderSweden to USA 1958-59 ful experience of being AFS students living with wonderful families, was to have a chance to meet I went on one trip when the bus trip students met President John F Kennedy. I was in my Thai cosPresident Kennedy, I believe. I don’t remember tume with long skirt and the traditional blouse. which year it was. But I do remember shaking his So proud to be able to show him where we were hand, so that was a thrill. from. I was sitting in the front row on the grounds Sachiye (Mizuki) Kuwamoto, of the White House, listening to his speech. We AFS Life Trustee were so proud and so happy to be part of AFS. New York Staff 1948-1968 Listening to his speech has strengthened my feel10

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ing even more. He was wonderful and treated us like VIPs even though we were so young at that time. After the speech, he came around to shake hands with us. He is still in my heart forever.

Maleeratna Plumchitchom, AFS International Trustee Thailand to USA 1962-63

of my girlfriends!” And there he was: JFK with his incredible blue eyes and big smile! I was much too excited to remember what we talked about.

He shook hands and disappeared. Nina and I were sure we would not wash our hands for as long as possible!

Helmi (Hoedtke) von Albert Germany to USA 1957-58

When I look at my scrapbook of my AFS-year, 1960-61 in “I want to first of all express Wisconsin, it is full of phomy commendation to the tos and newspaper clippings American Field Service. I about the elections of that year. What an exciting time! knew a good many young men As an AFSer in a small town who served in the Second War of southern Wisconsin, I was in the American Field Service, often placed in the first row in North Africa and in Europe, when Republican or DemoIt seems as if it were yescratic candidates toured terday that we were at the and I think their experience through the country. But we White House garden and he working with other armies— teenagers all indulged in stospoke to us. A little speech the 8th Army in North Africa, ries about Kennedy, his family he made, but how much did with armies of a good many and their glamour and when he say! And how those words elections finally took place deepen in our hearts. of your countries—gave them we were all excited about Blanda Bohrer a sense that we should not the outcome and about this Brazil to USA 1962-63 have another war and also the young family moving into the importance of people working White House. Needless to It was in summer 1958, at the say how excited I was about end of my exchange year in together.” the program for us AFSers in Massachusetts. All the bus John F. Kennedy, Address to Washington DC at the end of trips had ended in WashAFS students, July 18, 1963 our stay. Highlight was the reington in a huge end of stay ception on the White House AFS reunion and my friend lawn: Stephen Galatti gave a speech, there was Nina from Spain and I decided that we would roaring and cheering, and finally Kennedy apnot leave the US before meeting Senator John peared under the arcades, waving. Did he say F. Kennedy. So we walked to the Capitol, up something, or just wave? – I don’t know, the exand down the corridors looking for JFK. A tall citement went overboard as hundreds of young friendly gentleman introduced himself as Senaforeign students cheered and mobbed and tried tor Hubert Humphrey from Minnesota and said to get a handshake with the president. I still re“No problem” and took us down to the little member every moment of that event today! underground train that connected the senator’s Ulrike (Graup) Kröll office building with the Capitol, opened a huge Germany to USA 1960-61 door and yelled: “Jack, I want you to meet two President Kennedy’s address to the AFS group is still in our memories and his smiling face reminds us every moment of his work for the goodness of the world.

Shriniwas L. Kelkar India to USA 1962-63

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I remember the final weeks of my AFS stay to the United States in 1961-1962 to be an extraordinary experience. No doubt the final meeting of all AFSers in Washington was the most impressive event. Some 70 AFS-Buses gathering around the White House and spilling their crowd of 2000 international students on the White House lawn. The weather was fine. Here I was so near to the mightiest statesman of the western hemisphere but also just one person in a crowd of thousands of guests to the White House Lawn.

When President Kennedy came, a big uproar. His short speech sounded sincere to me.

Winfried Heinrich Germany to USA 1961-62

visit to our town to ensure us of his support. I followed his way through our town by listening to the radio all day long and I gained new hope by his statement: “Ich bin ein Berliner.” It was one of the most memorable days of my life as well as the day in November when the radio announced his assassination. Then there was deep sadness in our city.

Christa (Gaedeke) Doepfer Germany to USA 1952-53

I was born in Berlin in 1935, I have lived there for more than forty years. Thus I have experienced the Russian blockade in 1948/49 with the “Luftbrücke”, the building of the wall in 1961 which cut right through our family, too, and observed all the problems of the divided city. In 1963 the Cuba crisis lead to a new crisis around Berlin and all of us were deeply worried about the political situation. At that time President Kennedy paid a

There was an intimate relationship which I know everyone of us felt at those receptions at the White House. Kennedy’s belief in the AFS was so evident, his warmth and personal approach in his speeches so marked. Isn’t it true too that we can best take heart in the memory of his own striving for peace and that we can follow this path with the same faith?

Stephen Galatti, AFS Founder

Kennedy’s vision held a special hope for the AFS German Returnees living in the divided country.

Stephen Galatti expressed the deep admiration that AFS students held for John Kennedy.

SAVE THE DATE November 3-4, 2007, New York City To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the start of AFS International Scholarships after WWII we are planning a series of festive events on Saturday, November 3 and Sunday November 4, 2007 in New York. The celebrations will follow the AFS World Congress in New York. The location is to be announced later and we will be sending out more information. Please mark your calendars.

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Message To AFS Veterans From Arthur Howe Jr.

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t Eleanora Golobic’s request, I am reporting to you on some of my recent AFS involvement and impressions. As many of you are aware, Eleanora succeeded Bill Orrick as the AFS Archivist and is enthusiastically enlarging our rich collection of memorabilia. Get in touch with her at the AFS International office if you want to add to this important undertaking.

It preserves the extraordinary story of how our contemporary international student exchanges (11,000 per year) grew out of AFS ambulance service in two world wars.

While I am no longer officially involved, having resigned from Life Trusteeship after 50 years of rewarding engagement. I’m privileged to be invited to attend occasional meetings and celebrations here and overseas. My conviction from this is that AFS programs involving students, families, schools and volunteers in over fifty countries remains the most timely, significant educational experiences a young person can have reaching out in each instance to the lives of many others. Testimony from hundred of thousands confirms that no other single year produces deeper or more lasting intellectual and personal growth appropriate to the challenges of the 21st century.

Participants have emerged with enlarged sensitivities and insights into the universal need for all of us to live more constructively with differences.

ti’s inspirational leadership into what is now a worldwide pattern of multinational, intercultural exchanges between Partner AFS organizations in participating countries. Today AFS students go from Brazil to Japan, from Ghana to Finland, from the USA to Russia, from China to Italy, etc. The impact of these new dimensions opens large and varied options for the future. We’re blessed with a wise, dedicated young leader of this new AFS, Tachi Cazal, himself an AFS participant (Paraguay to USA 1974-75) who is backed by an able and supportive international body of Trustees. Truly we have a large band of new ambulance drivers to heal a wounded world.

SAVE THE DATE October 19, 2006, New York City Dr. Richard M. Hunt, an AFS Life Trustee and WWII Driver and William M. (Biff) and Elizabeth R. Folberth, III, former AFSUSA Board member and returnees will be honored at the AFS-USA 5th Annual Gala

AFSers are now in large numbers playing influential roles in public and private services worldwide, whether as heads of state or as influential contributors at a local level. Our work is touching a lot of lives, and my hope is that it can become accepted as a basic part of the experience of able young people of all stations everywhere.

at the United Nations in New York.

For more information and to reserve tickets or tables, contact Patti Davis

Of added significance is the transformation of the old AFS from the American centered activity which we helped to create under Steve GalatTHE JANUS/SEPTEMBER 2006

at 212-479-1108 or email at pdavis@afs.org.

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Remembering with Sorrow, Emerging with Hope: An Ambulance Driver Revisits Bergen-Belsen

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elvin Waters, an AFS WWII driver and one of the liberators of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany revisited a chapter of his past history when he participated in the 60th anniversary of the camp’s liberation on April 17, 2005.

“Peacetime is a blessing, which is why we must never, ever forget the past.”

Richard Spencer, AFS President 1995

Shortly after the British Liberation armies arrived at Bergen-Belsen in April of 1945, a contingent of AFS ambulance drivers was called in to assist in what became a 7-week mission offering aid and hope to the survivors of the Nazi camp. Among those who did not live to see the liberation of Bergen-Belsen were Anne Frank and her sister Margot.

Melvin Waters was 19 years old when he joined the American Field Service as an ambulance driver, early in the summer of 1944. Melvin served at Bergen-Belsen as a member of the “D” Platoon of 567 COY, an AFS section attached to 21st Army Group.

In April 2005, Melvin and his family, accompanied by Jürgen Blankenburg, the Chair AFS Foundation and former AFS International Trustee, Susanne Orth, Director of fundraising and public relations at the AFS Partner office in Germany 14

and Bärbel Helmers, the former National Director of AFS Germany made the journey to the site of the camp for the memorial ceremonies.

Some time after the commemoration of the event, Melvin spoke on the phone with Eleanora Golobic, the Archivist at AFS International: “The day before going to Bergen-Belsen, I met members of the AFS German office in Hamburg. At this meeting, I realized how little is known about the drivers and the history of the American Field Service. Some, if not all the former participants in AFS exchange programs that I met there thought that the AFS drivers were in the American army. I explained to them that the American Field Service began during the First World War when a group of American college students studying in Paris formed this service organization to help transport French soldiers wounded on the battlefields to hospitals. The AFS was never part of the American army.” After the meeting Melvin attended a dinner with the Board Members of AFS Germany and Francisco “Tachi” Cazal, who has since become the President of AFS International.

Melvin Waters at the Bergen Belsen concentration camp, May 1945.

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Melvin reminisced about the decision to go to the memorial service and about the conditions he found at

the camp upon his arrival in 1944: “When I first thought about going to the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the camp, I had mixed emotions. My first reaction was to call Cynthia, my eldest daughter, and discuss it with her. Her response was ‘Dad, you have to go and I will go with you and Mom.’ Two of my daughters, a son-in-law and my wife Jo, all accompanied me to Hamburg, Germany and later to BergenBelsen.” The moral support provided by his family was undoubtedly important as Melvin thought back to the nightmarish conditions he witnessed when he first arrived at the camp in 1944.

“When we entered the camp, we walked among rows and rows of dead bodies, the living were mixed in with the dead. Some were delirious, not being able to grasp that they were now free.

We did not know where to begin our work, the task was so overwhelming, but we were soon ordered to begin the evacuation of the camp’s survivors. Coming back to this place was a little disorienting,” continued Melvin, “When the memorial ceremony was over, I looked for the place where I remembered the main gate to the camp had been located, but I could not find it.

I finally asked Jürgen Blankenburg, and he said that I was standing right on the spot where the gate used to be. ‘How could this be?’, I asked him, since I remembered the main gate had looked out to the east onto an open field, but now, Bergen-Belsen was just a small clearing deep in a forest. Where had all the trees come from? My wife reminded me that a lot of trees can grow in sixty years, and then I was reminded that the horror of this camp did not happen yesterday, it had happened 60 years ago.”

After a few more days in Germany and in Belgium, where he visited the AFS Flemish and French Partner offices, the town of Brugges and the memorial to the Battle of the Bulge, Melvin and his family boarded the plane for the trip back home to the United States: “As I flew

Melvin Waters with the German returnees (2004/2005) at the AFS Hamburg office, April 16, 2005

home, I thought of how gracious and friendly all the people of the Hamburg AFS office and AFS Belgium had been to my family and to me. I was overwhelmed at the dedication and enthusiasm of the staff members, volunteers and AFS program alumni whom I met during my stay in Germany and Belgium. All of the AFS alumni that I spoke with told me that their year abroad in the exchange program was the most memorable time of their lives. It made me think of how much the months I spent in the AFS meant to me and how they affected my life.”

Following the end of the war in Europe, Melvin was sent to the United Kingdom and transferred to India in July of 1945. After the termination of hostilities with Japan, he returned to the United States in 1945. He has worked as a CPA for many years at his firm in Dallas, Texas. Melvin is now busy writing his forthcoming memoirs which will be titled “My Story” based on his experiences in the war.

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Drivers’ News Ed Masback Jr. and Dr. Helmut Panke Honored at AFS-USA 2005 Gala

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dwin Masback, Jr., AFS Life Trustee and Driver (ME 37), and Dr. Helmut Panke were honored at AFS-USA’s 2005 fundraising Gala, held on October 27, 2005 at the United Nations in New York. H.E. Wolfgang Ischinger, the German Ambassador and a former AFS student (Germany to USA 1963-64) introduced Dr. Panke.

Masback is an AFS Founder who has served on AFS governing boards continuously since 1947, including serving as Chairman of AFS International Board of Trustees, Acting Director General and Treasurer. He has had a business career in New York.

Alex Plinio, President AFS-USA, Edwin Masback, Jr. and Wolfgang Ischinger, currently the German Ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Dr. Helmut Panke, Chairman of the Board of Management, the BMW Group is an AFS returnee from Germany to Exeter, New Hampshire in 1964-65. During the event Ed’s son, Kevin Masback, presented a miniature WWII ambulance to AFS-USA.

“Our Story” — AFS Relevant History Website The AFS website now has a link to “Our Story” (www.ourstory.info), an extensive website developed by Alan Albright (USA to France Summer Program 1958). The website was begun in Paris in late 1988 and it examines the evolution of the AFS history from the beginnings to the student exchange programs. It’s designed in the form of a layered synthesis, linked to a growing library of primary and secondary texts.

The website is an ongoing project with several chapters still to be completed. http://www.afs.org/historylinks

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AFS Legacy Project Update

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he AFS Legacy Project continues to evolve as the many Drivers and Founders of the AFS student exchange programs become available to document their stories on videotape. To further our mission of preserving the AFS founders’ legacy, the AFS Archives initiated the project in January of 1999. Through private donations from AFS Trustees, Drivers, Returnees and other supporters, we have been able to interview eighty-two AFS drivers, who served in many theatres of World War II. Twenty-nine drivers have been recorded on audio tape and fifty-three have been videotaped.

Galatti Award Winner Cathie Currin and Wynona Ellis, an early staff member.

The project will continue in 2007 as we plan to publish the Founders’ memories in digital format. As a result of this initiative we have already produced a DVD documenting the AFS drivers’ history “Many Voices One Story: AFS Drivers Remember”. The original 48 minute version is available for $25.00 plus $8.00 shipping fee (regular air mail). We have also collected important AFS memorabilia, including the extensive collections of Ashley Olmsted (IB 1), Wilbur Bernardi (CM 43) and Raymond Mitchell (ME 39).

In 2005-06 the project’s interviews were held in New York, Boston, The origins of AFS are an Weaverville, NC and exciting saga of devotion Sarasota, FL. We oband service to others and tained testimonials of the AFS Archives is comAFS drivers Bill Cantrall, mitted to the perpetuCharles Johnson, Wilation of the story of the liam Townsend, Charles Founders of AFS. From Book, Allan Prince, AnNorman Duarte and Eleanora Golobic interviewing Charles Johnson, Asheville, NC, May 2005. the AFS volunteer ambudrew Foley, Hugh Parker, lance drivers who served Thomas Hale, Edward in World War I to the many participants in the AFS Pattullo, Richard Hunt, Robert Kennedy, Howard student programs of today an unbroken line of Mayhew, Robert Tscherfinger and Alan Britton. over ninety years of AFS service to the world community reflects the tradition of the AFS volunteer.

Among interviewed Founders and the original AFS staff members were former AFS InternaAFS Archives would like to thank all the Drivers tional Presidents Richard Spencer and Paul Shay and Founders who participated in the project. and Chairs Ezio Vergani, James Cooney and Bill We also want to express our gratitude to Drivers Meserve (current International Trustee) and forwho donated their records. For those Drivers and mer Trustees Fatimah Mohamed, Jürgen BlankenFounders who have yet to participate, please reburg, Sergei Filonovich and Axel Jansen (former member that your personal memories of your AFS AFS Germany Trustee). In addition we captured service are of immense value to us. If you would remembrances of former National Directors Don like to be interviewed or donate documentation Mohanlal (Sri Lanka), Georg Broch (Norway), that tells your story, please contact Eleanora GoloSilvia Bruno (Argentina), Martha Verdejo (Argenbic at the Archives. tina) and Regula Stamm (Switzerland), the 2003 THE JANUS/SEPTEMBER 2006

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Walter B. Doyle (1923-2005)

A

FS is greatly saddened to report the death of Walter Burke Doyle (CM 41), who passed away at 82 on November 30, 2005 in Annandale, Virginia. Walter Doyle lived in Church Falls, Virginia. He had a career in the Foreign Service, public relations and corporate fundraising. He also worked as a reporter and editor.

Doyle was born on May 29, 1923 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He completed his sophomore year at Yale (Class of 1945) when he joined the American Field Service in January of 1943. At the time he was a reporter at the Hartford Courant in Connecticut.

Doyle was sent overseas with the Unit CM 41 on April 24, 1943 and served as an ambulance driver with the British Eighth Army in the Middle East and Italy. He participated in the Battles of Termoli and Campobasso in the fall of 1943 and in the Cassino Battle in 1944. He became an acting

sergeant of the “B” Platoon of the 567 Company.

He returned to the United States in December of 1944.

After the end of WWII Doyle majored in the international relations at Yale and entered the Foreign Service. He was an information officer with the Marshall Plan, traveling to Denmark, France, Turkey, Austria and Italy. In the early to mid 1950s he served under Ambassador Clare Boothe Luce as press attache in the U.S. Embassy in Rome, and worked on the Trieste settlement, the economic rebuilding of Italy, the deployment of missile forces in the Mediterranean area and the evacuation of American civilians during the 1950 Suez War. Doyle returned to the United States in the late 1950s and joined the public relations staff of Texaco Inc., as manager of the corporation’s philanthropy programs. He was responsible for Texaco’s sponsorship of the Metropolitan Opera’s Saturday matinee radio broadcasts. He retired from Texaco in 1982 and later became a consultant to the College of Engineering at the University of Utah.

Doyle’s survivors include his wife, Bonnie H. Durrance-Doyle, a son and a stepdaughter.

Walter Doyle in Italy in 1944.

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Doyle’s AFS legacy includes serving as an AFS Trustee in 1971-74. In 1970 he arranged for the first grant support from Texaco and Mobil Oil for the AFS Corporate Scholarships (Mobil’s support of AFS continues to this day.)

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AFS Program Founders AFS Intercultural Programs mourns the loss of two of AFS family members listed below. We are forever indebted to them and we will always be grateful for their contributions.

Jaroslava Moserova, Founder of AFS in the Czech Republic (1930-2006) Jaroslava (Jara) Moserova passed away on March 23, 2006 at the age of 76 in Prague. Jara was an AFS student from Czechoslovakia 1947-48 and 1948-49 and the Founder of AFS in the Czech Republic in 1996. She distinguished herself as a plastic surgeon, scientist, artist, playwright, translator, diplomat and politician. She served as Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Australia and New Zealand in 1991-93, and the President of the UNESCO General Conference. In 2002 she was nominated as a candidate for the presidency of the Czech Republic. In 1971 Jara presented AFS with a metal sculpture entitled “Empathy” (on display at the AFS International headquarters in New York City).

Helga von Hoffmann, One of the Founders of AFS in Germany (1933-2005) Helga von Hoffman passed away on December 5, 2005 in Hamburg. Helga began her AFS journey as a German student to the USA in 1950-51. She volunteered upon her return and headed the first AFS office in Germany (and Europe) on October 11, 1952 and directed it for eight years. Helga rejoined the organization in 1967 and continued her work until her retirement in 1992. Her AFS involvement spanned more than four decades and included delivering a keynote address at the AFS 25th Anniversary Convention 1971 in Atlantic City and serving as a Consultant to the AFS Internationalization Committee in 1973. Helga’s contributions had a tremendous impact on the development of AFS programs both in Germany and around the world.

WWII LAST POST 2005 -2006 Harcourt Amory, Jr., CM 41 Thomas Barbour II, ME 28 D. Lane Bates, CM 93, IB 59-T John R. Baylor, CM 86 Donald E. Brace Jr., IB 54 Peter T. Chew, ME 37 Michael K. Clark, ME 4 Thomas N. Cook, CM 79 Donald E. De Tray, ME 4 Edward A. Ernest, Jr., CM 97 John A. Eyed, ME 13 Don Allen Gillis, ME 5, FR 4 Robert A. Girard, IB 46 Walter M. Goodwillie, Jr., CM 90, IB 60-T Robert A. Grey, IB 2, FR 8 Quentin M. Hope, ME 37, FR 1 Robert E. Johnson, IB 55 George G. Kent, CM 86 Edward C. Koenig, Jr., ME 16, FFC Philip A. Litchfield, CM 63 Charles R. MacDonald, ME 15 William J. MacKenna, CM 79 Cameron MacLeod, Jr., CM 96, IB 60-T Phillips McGraw, CM 92 Rowland P. McKinley, CM 41 William P. Meleney, ME 33, CM 94, IB 59-T Peter V. C. Moore, FR 40, ME 37, FR 3-T Wendell L. Nichols, ME 1 Ashley W. Olmsted, IB 1 J. Robert Orton, Jr., ME 1, CM 76 Theodore H. Partrick, FR 7, IB 60-T Howard H. Patrick, Jr., CM 96, IB 60-T William R. Pearmain, ME 16 Stanley Rich, IB 57 John H. Vickers, CM 90 George L. Weimer, CM 92, IB 59-T Joseph S. Wolhandler, CM 40, FR 4 Joseph Zarrella, ME 37

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New Books by AFS WWII Ambulance Drivers in 1944-45 was involved with the publication of this volume before his death in 2005.

WWII Liberator’s Life: AFS Ambulance Driver Chooses Peace

By Norman C. Kunkel and Georgie Bright Kunkel, Bright Kunkel Books, 2006, 250 pp.

ISBN: 1599754479

An AFS Driver Remembers

by Charles P. Edwards, draft typescript, 700 pp.

(1999)

Norman Kunkel (IB 5, CM 92-T) joined the American Field Service as an ambulance driver in the summer of 1943. In 194344 Norman served with the British Fourteenth Army in India Burma. From November of 1944 until the end of the war in Europe in May of 1945 Norman served in Italy aiding civilians. Finally he helped liberate Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany. The publication uses some of the Archives photos. Mrs. Georgie Kunkel would appreciate your feedback, please email: gnkunkel@comcast.net . To order the book send $21 plus $4 mailing ($5 outside the US) in US funds to Georgie Kunkel, 3409 SW Trenton, Seattle, WA 98126-3743

The Collected Poems of Robert Creeley, 1975-2005

By Penelope Creeley, The University of California Press, 2006, 752 pp. ISBN: 0520241592 Due in October of 2006, this essential reading for anyone interested in twentieth century American poetry showcases thirty years of work by the late Robert W. Creeley (IB 48), one of the most influential poets of our era associated with the Black Mountain poets of the 1950s. This book of poetry includes verse that originally appeared in Creeley’s Hello: A Journal (1978), Life & Death (1998) and If I were writing this (2003). Creeley who served as an AFS ambulance driver in India-Burma 20

Charles “Fox” Edwards (ME 26) unpublished memoir is now available on the website of AFS Intercultura Italy. This book of Fox’s reminiscences and historical perceptives includes his war poems and is illustrated by 168 photographs, including 142 taken by John C. Cobb (ME 26). Fox served together with the “Lucky 13” drivers in “C” Platoon, 485 then 567 Coy attached to the British 8th and 9th Army and U.S. 5th Army in the Middle East, North Africa, and Italy in 1942-45. http://www.intercultura.it/P03.001/chisiamo/ charles_edwards/foxTC.html

From New York to Bergen Belsen. William Congdon’s pacifist mission between ethics and politics.

By Stefano Galli, New York, S. F. Vanni, 2006, 240 pp.

Dr. Stefano Galli’s 1996 book “Da New York a Bergen Belsen: L’altra guerra di William Congdon (1942-1945),” about Bill Congdon’s (ME 20, CM 90) AFS service in the Middle East, Italy and the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany is now available in the United States. Widely known as an expressionistic painter, Congdon was also a published writer and author. Galli, an AFS returnee and volunteer from Italy based the book on the letters Congdon wrote to his family in Providence, RI and his war diary and poems.

The book has been chosen for the forthcoming academic year’s course on the History of European Civilization at the Mesa College of San Diego, California. Price $25.00

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