The Foreign Service Journal, May 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2015 55 AFSA NEWS AFSAAdds Two Names to Memorial Plaques on Foreign Affairs Day Each year on Foreign Affairs Day, the American Foreign Service Association honors the sacrifices of those who died while serving abroad in pursuit of the highest goals of American diplomacy, and development in a memo- rial ceremony in front of the AFSA Memorial Plaques. On May 1, AFSA President Robert Silverman will lead the ceremony in front of the plaques in the Department of State’s C Street lobby. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to offer remarks honoring the fallen diplomats. The ceremony will recognize the 245 people whose names have been inscribed during the past 82 years and will mark the addi- tion of two new names: David Collins and Rayda “Raydita” Nadal will become the 246th and 247th names on the AFSA Memorial Plaques. David Collins joined the Foreign Service in 2009 as a financial management officer. He served in Pretoria from 2009 to 2012, and then as a financial management officer at the U.S. consulate general in Lagos from 2012 to 2013. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Collins, an ordained minister with the Assem- blies of God, worked for the denomination in Illinois from 1988 to 2003, and for its Brussels office from 2003 to 2009. His family describes him as having been moti- vated by a love of God and country. His co-workers remember him as a team player who embodied ingenuity, integrity and commitment to excel- lence. He was respected for his leadership and seen as a friend by his colleagues. Mr. Collins died in a drowning accident off the coast of Nigeria in 2013, at the age of 58. He is survived by his wife, Donna, and their four children; Danelle Spalla, Daniel Collins, Deanna Collins and David Collins; and one granddaughter, Danelle’s daughter, Eloise. Rayda Nadal joined the Foreign Service in 2008 as an office management special- ist. She worked in the eco- nomic section of Embassy Kuwait City from 2008 to 2010, then served as a rover in Kabul. Following a year in Nassau, she worked from 2011 to 2013 in the Office of Protocol in Washington, D.C., where she was an OMS for Ambassador Capricia Marshall. In 2013 she began an assignment as an OMS with the Office of Engineering Services in Moscow. Described by friends and colleagues as “a ray of sun- shine,” Nadal was an upbeat and positive person who, according to an OMS class- mate, “lived this crazy and unusual lifestyle with pride and always with a smile.” She was an avid reader, writer and collector of books. She was also known for a quick wit and a ready smile. Ms. Nadal was injured in a gas explosion in her Moscow apartment on May 22, 2014. She died four days later at a hospital in Sweden, at the age of 37. She is survived by her parents, Jimmy and Rayda, and sister, Lisa. We ask that all members of the Foreign Service com- munity take a moment on the morning of May 1, Foreign Affairs Day, to remember David Collins, Rayda Nadal and the 245 men and women who preceded them on the AFSA Memorial Plaques. n –Leo Martin and Kavanaugh Waddell, Awards Interns AFSA/DEBRABLOME The AFSA Memorial Plaques. David Collins COURTESYOFCOLLINSFAMILY Rayda “Raydita” Nadal COURTESYOFNADALFAMILY