June 17, 1973 - Dayton Daily News: RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Rene L Courtway who died while serving in Benin in June, 1973 at Age 25
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June 17, 1973 - Dayton Daily News: RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Rene L Courtway who died while serving in Benin in June, 1973 at Age 25
RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Rene C. Courtway who died while serving in Benin in June, 1973 at Age 25
Rene C. Courtway served in Benin and died in June, 1973. The cause of death was deemed to be Disease-bacterial. Returned Volunteers remember Rene C. Courtway and leave their condolences to family and friends. Read the obituary and if you knew Rene C. Courtway leave your memories and remembrances below at:
Rene C. Courtway served in Benin and died in June, 1973. *
* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.
Rene C. Courtway served in Benin and died in June, 1973.
The cause of death was deemed to be Disease-bacterial.
Rene C. Courtway (M)
Died: 06/17/73
Age: 25
Serving in: Benin
Died in: Usa
Cause of Death: staph septicemia: bacterial endocardit
Cause of death category: disease-bacterial
Notes: On day of med'v, PCV had encephalitis, hepatosplenomegaly, acute kidney failure. Med'v to Germany then DC. Died 3 days after med,v no additional hx of illness. Country of service: Dahomey New name of country: Benin
For the Peace Corps Fallen
Read and comment on this article written by Swaziland RPCV Jack Conrad on the Memorial Service for the 254 Peace Corps Volunteers who have died in service held at Arlington Cemetery on June 23, 2002 at:
For the Peace Corps Fallen*
* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.
For the Peace Corps Fallen
This past Sunday was sunny and steamy hot in Washington, D.C. In the morning, hundreds of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers assembled beside the Lincoln Memorial. There they distributed among themselves flags from each of the countries in which the Peace Corps has served - 135 in all. They then marched, led by the flag bearers, in reverent tribute across the Potomac River to Arlington National Cemetery. At the cemetery they mounted the large hill before them, veering to the right in order to pay their respects to the agency's founder, at the grave of President John F. Kennedy. Then they continued on to the top of the hill and the amphitheater beside the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. That's where the remembrance ceremony began.
A quartet of Washington, D.C. police officers, called "Prophecy," started the commemoration with gospel music. Then Pat Reilly, President of the National Peace Corps Association Board, stood at the podium, recalling her first encounter with the Peace Corps ("You can't send me to Sierra Leone. I don't speak Spanish! Besides, I wanted to go to Africa!"). Following the assembled volunteers' singing of America the Beautiful, a Rabbi and an Imam shared their prayers with the audience, prayers for the work of the Peace Corps, prayers for Peace. Pat Reilly returned to the stage to share a poem dedicated to those volunteers who gave their lives during their service. Presented below, it packed a punch. Then an unscheduled guest took the stage, newly confirmed Peace Corps Director, Gaddy Vasquez. He shared his brief remarks about the organization, its heightened importance, and again, reverence for those who never returned from their assignments - 254 individuals in all. He disclosed that he thinks about them every day---upon entering and leaving the Peace Corps Office---as there is a large panel with the names of the departed just beside the entrance ...
Next Congressman Christopher Shays from Connecticut (RPCV, Fiji) took the stage, striking just the right note when he asserted that "We walked their paths, rode their buses, bathed in their pools and spoke their languages ... We came home different and with a greater appreciation of our country."
A few other speakers followed, Michelle Forman, the national teacher of the year (RPCV, Nepal), Harris Wofford, instrumental in the founding of the Peace Corps, later a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, and more recently a Clinton Administration task force member, and lastly the coordinator of the conference, Cori Welbourn Bassett (RPCV, Sri Lanka).
The ceremony ended with a final procession of the flags ...
I was honored to have the chance to depart the amphitheater carrying the flag of Swaziland. As I did, I thought about the five Swaziland PCVs who never returned from their service alive.
(1) Frederick A. Schwartz (1970)
(2) Janis Hyatt (1981)
(3) Brenda Crawford (1988)
(4) Juanita Quiton (1988)
(5) Laura Stedman (1996)
I *believe* I met Brenda and Juanita before I left Swaziland in 1987. They would have been among the latest trainees. I heard later, when I was teaching in West Africa in '88, that they had died in an auto accident, while traveling from Johannesburg to Zimbabwe, somewhere on the road between the two.
It would be interesting to hear about the personalities of these five volunteers and more about the circumstances behind their deaths. Did any of you know them?
For the Peace Corps Fallen
We who left you
Before our time
May return if you reach back
And carry a world
With us
Within you.
Let our monument
Be the mark you make
In the life you lead of peace and purpose.
Do, so that we may do
Act, so that we may act
Live, so that we may live
Again, through you.
---by Donald Maclean
Salani kahle, Bonkhosi,
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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Benin; Safety and Security of Volunteers; Obituaries; Volunteer Fatalities: Disease-bacterial
PCOL8901
68
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I would like to make a correction to the rememberance web page for Rene Courtway who died while serving in Benin in June, 1973. His middle initial is not "L" but "C" for Cedric.
In addition, I have at least one audio tape and letters that he wrote home. Is there a collection of these types of materials located any where that might like them?
Thank you.
His brother
Jon J Courtway
Dear Mr. Courtway,
The correction has been made.
We would be interested in publishing excerpts from some of the letters your brother wrote about his experiences in Benin (then Dahomey) on this web site.
Send us an email at peacecorpsonline AT gmail DOT com.
Best regards,
Admin1