October 14, 1971 - Dayton Daily News: RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Robert Whitfield who died while serving in Ghana in October, 1971 at Age 22

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Ghana: Peace Corps Ghana : The Peace Corps in Ghana: October 14, 1971 - Dayton Daily News: RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Robert Whitfield who died while serving in Ghana in October, 1971 at Age 22

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-121-209.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.121.209) on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 10:24 am: Edit Post

RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Robert Whitfield who died while serving in Ghana in October, 1971 at Age 22





Robert Whitfield served in Ghana and died in October, 1971. The cause of death was deemed to be Accident-fall. Returned Volunteers remember Robert Whitfield and leave their condolences to family and friends. Read the obituary and if you knew Robert Whitfield leave your memories and remembrances below at:

Robert Whitfield served in Ghana and died in October, 1971. *

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.



Robert Whitfield served in Ghana and died in October, 1971.

The cause of death was deemed to be Accident-fall.

Robert Whitfield (M)

Died: 10/14/71

Age: 22

Serving in: Ghana

Died in: Ghana

Cause of Death: cerebral hemorrhage: severe head injury

Cause of death category: accident-fall

Notes: PCV died of head injuries suffered when he received a massive electrical shock and hit his head on the flr. He was operating a ham radio during a lightning storm. He was medivac'd in country. Underwent emergency trephination and died 4 days after head injur



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 - Ghana; Safety and Security of Volunteers; Obituaries; Volunteer Fatalities: Accident-fall

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By charleswford (adsl-222-182-160.clt.bellsouth.net - 68.222.182.160) on Monday, December 10, 2007 - 12:45 am: Edit Post

I was in Ghana with Robert Whitfield. I trained with him and worked on some of the details of his medical care and evacuation.

If any reader would like more details, I would be happy to provide them.

By sarah miller-gardner whitaker (74.226.132.244) on Wednesday, December 31, 2008 - 7:48 am: Edit Post

I was a friend of bob"s throughout high school and college- did you know he also learned to sign after high school? a young man who always had a full grinning smile and a willing for conversation.Bob ,s spirit was philosophical without speaking philosophy- His mom wrote to me of his death- I was teaching with the Jesuit Volunteers in spokane at the time-she wrote that I numerous addresses in his book. He touched so many. Thank you for being with him throughout that time and what a blessing you must have been to him- sarah

By Roger Donley (76.30.12.247) on Saturday, October 15, 2011 - 3:25 am: Edit Post

Robert was the first person I knew who died. I didn't really know him, but I saw them put him in the helicopter to evacuate him. My dad worked at the Baptist Medical Centre in Nalerigu. We and other families parked cars and left the headlights on to help the helicopter figure out where to land. This is one of my earliest memories (I was only 3 years old). I didn't know his name until tonight, 40 years later. I'm glad to read about him here.

By Gregory Sullivan (73.153.85.38) on Sunday, March 19, 2023 - 12:06 am: Edit Post

I just spent this evening thinking about Bob again as I often do, especially when traveling in Ghana. Bob was a dear friend whom I met in PCV training. He had a great personality, warmth and caring, and people liked to be around him. His posting was in the Northern Region at a secondary school, and I was in Wa. We would meet in Tamale where he had a close friend, Linda Anderson. We decided to travel to Timbuktu together over Christmas holidays, 1970. The three of us went to Ouagadougou and then Bob and I went on to Niamey, Gao, boat to Timbuktu and to Mopti and finally car/bus to Quaga and then Tamale where Linda was. She was happy to see us but especially Bob. Many great memories of our travel and stories on the desert under the stars. I have always remembered him and how he died was such a freak accident during a terrible thunderstorm. His spirit has traveled with me since his death. Rest in Peace, Bob. Greg March 18, 2023

By Gregory Sullivan (73.153.85.38) on Sunday, March 19, 2023 - 12:00 am: Edit Post

I just spent this evening thinking about Bob again as I often do, especially when traveling in Ghana. Bob was a dear friend whom I met in PCV training. He had a great personality, warmth and caring, and people liked to be around him. His posting was in the Northern Region at a secondary school, and I was in Wa. We would meet in Tamale where he had a close friend, Linda Anderson. We decided to travel to Timbuktu together over Christmas holidays, 1970. The three of us went to Ouagadougou and then Bob and I went on to Niamey, Gao, boat to Timbuktu and to Mopti and finally car/bus to Quaga and then Tamale where Linda was. She was happy to see us but especially Bob. Many great memories of our travel and stories on the desert under the stars. I have always remembered him and how he died was such a freak accident during a terrible thunderstorm. His spirit has traveled with me since his death. Rest in Peace, Bob. Greg March 18, 2023


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