June 23, 1965 - Dayton Daily News: RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Francis Kirking who died while serving in Iran in June, 1965

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Iran: Peace Corps Iran : The Peace Corps in Iran: June 23, 1965 - Dayton Daily News: RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Francis Kirking who died while serving in Iran in June, 1965

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-121-209.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.121.209) on Friday, December 19, 2003 - 10:16 am: Edit Post

RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Francis Kirking who died while serving in Iran in June, 1965





Francis Kirking served in Iran and died in June, 1965. The cause of death was deemed to be Accident-drowning. Returned Volunteers remember Francis Kirking and leave their condolences to family and friends. Read the obituary and if you knew Francis Kirking leave your memories and remembrances below at:

Francis Kirking served in Iran and died in June, 1965. *

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



Francis Kirking served in Iran and died in June, 1965.

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

Francis Kirking (U)

Died: 06/23/65

Age:

Serving in: Iran

Died in: Unknown

Cause of Death: asphyxiation: drowning

Cause of death category: accident-drowning

Notes: No admin (oss); no ohs record



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 - Iran; Safety and Security of Volunteers; Obituaries; Volunteer Fatalities: Accident-drowning

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By Stan Slaven (adsl-69-235-41-113.dsl.irvnca.pacbell.net - 69.235.41.113) on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 5:35 pm: Edit Post

Francis Kirking - Frank
Frank was in Bandar Pahlavi, Guilan when I arrived in Sept of 1964. A group of us decided to get an apt together in Bandar Pahlavi, and commuted to our villages via 'kariyahs', vans that could hold up to 15 people, in very crowded ways.
Frank was the kind of person that was thoughful, insightful, and caring. We hit it off immediately, and I considered him my best friend. He taught me what he had learned in the months he had already been there, and those insights were very helpful.
Due to the buracracy of the in-country organizations we worked for, we were split up in April of 1965, and he was then moved to live in a village on the Caspian shore west of Bandar Pahlavi quite a ways.
It was there that Frank met the end of his life. He was on the shore and an Iranian was drownding, or could not get out of the surf somehow. Frank ran in to save him, and in the process was also dragged under, either from tiring, or by the person he was trying to save. In the end, both he and the Iranian drowned.
All PCVs in Guilan were notified, and we all went to his village to recovery him, as he was still missing under the Caspian waters. All night we rode up and down the shoreline, as we did not want any wild dogs to get to him first. It was sunrise time the next day, and he was spotted by one of us, the exact person I do not remember. It was a very sad time for all of us as we all knew and liked Frank very much.
Several days later we all attended a memorial for Frank in Tehran. He was missed during the rest of my stay in Iran. Every once in a while, I remember Frank, his way, and his kindness. He still lives in my memory.


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