August 12, 1998 - Dayton Daily News: RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Robert Bock who died while serving in Philippines in August, 1998 at Age 32

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Philippines: Peace Corps Philippines: The Peace Corps in the Philippines: August 12, 1998 - Dayton Daily News: RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Robert Bock who died while serving in Philippines in August, 1998 at Age 32

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-232-99.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.232.99) on Saturday, December 27, 2003 - 11:07 am: Edit Post

RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Robert Bock who died while serving in Philippines in August, 1998 at Age 32





Robert Bock served in Philippines and died in August, 1998. The cause of death was deemed to be Homicide. Returned Volunteers remember Robert Bock and leave their condolences to family and friends. Read the obituary and if you knew Robert Bock leave your memories and remembrances below at:

Robert Bock served in Philippines and died in August, 1998. *

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



Robert Bock served in Philippines and died in August, 1998.

The cause of death was deemed to be Homicide.

Robert Bock (M)

Died: 08/12/98

Age: 32

Serving in: Philippines

Died in: Philippines

Cause of Death: multi gunshot wounds: assault by firearms

Cause of death category: homicide

Notes: PCV was riding in a hired van on his way home to conception when he and the van driver were gunned down by robbers.



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,




Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL

Read the series on Safety and Security here



Leave your comments on the series below.

Read comments by RPCVs here, here and here.





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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Philippines; Safety and Security of Volunteers; Obituaries; Volunteer Fatalities: Homicide

PCOL9097
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By death4criminals (adsl-131.137.76.info.com.ph - 203.131.137.76) on Thursday, July 21, 2005 - 1:51 am: Edit Post

John Robert Bock was not a victim of homicide. It was murder. He discovered something that resulted to summary execution. Rumors spread that persons responsible for his death are somewhat connected to abu sayaff or al-qaeda and operating in northern iloilo. please reply to the email address below. Justice for Mr. Bock

By James K. Rumbaugh (205.222.248.11) on Wednesday, April 18, 2007 - 8:49 am: Edit Post

I served with Bob in the philippines - he was a great person. We played volleyball in a slum court yard in manila with some street children one day. His murder was wrong - the investigation was a sham, and his killers need to be brought to justice

By Anonymous (cache-ntc-ac07.proxy.aol.com - 207.200.116.136) on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 4:20 pm: Edit Post

i knew bob. i was the last american to talk to him. he came to my house in conception and i told him what i had heard and warned him of what could happen. he laughed at me and said the filipino people had an active imagination, they had no sence of reality. i tried to talk to him about the dangerous situation about investigating illealal fishing but he never understood the importance of what i was trying to tell him. i liked bob and i tried to help him but he just wouldn't listen to me. i am the one that identified his body and i cried like a baby because i could not stop what happened. it was a horrible moring for me. his body was seperated from the rest of the bodies and was kept in a shed behind this little farm house. his body was under a sheet that was already soaked in blood and his beard was red with blood. to this day it haunts me. i tried to talk to his mom when she came, but somehow i was not able to see her. it seemed she came and went so fast, but i can't remember the details. i was, and am still, fearful for my own life because i know the truth. i just wish bob would have trusted me more as we sipped our coffe together and rode our mountain bikes together. it just wasnt meant to be. i'm sorry to his family for not helping more, but this has hurt me for a long time. i remember his mom's interview with the media, she said she didn't blame the philippines. you were correct, but those that were to blame never came to justice and i don't think they ever will. God protect me.


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