AFSA Memorial Plaque Ceremony 2008

The AFSA Memorial Plaque Ceremony was held Friday, May 2, 2008, as part of Foreign Affairs Day. The ceremony took place at the site of one of AFSA's two Memorial Plaques in the C St. lobby of the State Department.  The solemn ceremony honors those Foreign Service personnel who have lost their lives while serving their country abroad in the line of duty or under heroic or other inspirational circumstances.  It also serves as a graphic reminder of the extremely dangerous and difficult conditions our colleagues face while serving our country abroad today.
 Deputy Secretary John Negroponte presided over the ceremony.  Two names were added to the plaque this year, bringing the total to 227.  They are:

STEVEN THOMAS STEFANI IV a USDA Forest Service employee on voluntary assignment with the Foreign Agriculture Service in Afghanistan.  He was killed by a massive explosion caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) in October 2007 in Ghazni Province.  Mr. Stefani had recently requested an extension of his service.  He was 28 years old.

JOHN MICHAEL GRANVILLE, a Democracy and Governance Officer with USAID in Sudan.  He was killed, along with his driver, Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama, when their vehicle was attacked as they were returning from an official reception in Khartoum on January, 2008.   Mr. Granville had served in the Peace Corps in Cameroon and was a former Fulbright Scholar.  He was 33.

For a listing of all the names on the plaque, click on http://www.afsa.org/plaques.cfm.
Since the end of WWII, most of the names that have been added to the plaque have lost their lives due to acts of terrorism or other hostile action. The names are engraved on the two plaques located on either side of the main lobby and serve to remind those who pass by of our fallen colleagues' "willingness to serve and willingness to sacrifice." With these plaques we honor their service and their memories.