April 16, 1972 - Dayton Daily News: RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Alan C Banner who died while serving in Samoa in April, 1972 at Age 25
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April 16, 1972 - Dayton Daily News: RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Alan C Banner who died while serving in Samoa in April, 1972 at Age 25
RPCVs remember Peace Corps Volunteer Alan C Banner who died while serving in Samoa in April, 1972 at Age 25
Alan C Banner served in Samoa and died in April, 1972. The cause of death was deemed to be Accident-natural factors. Returned Volunteers remember Alan C Banner and leave their condolences to family and friends. Read the obituary and if you knew Alan C Banner leave your memories and remembrances below at:
Alan C Banner served in Samoa and died in April, 1972. *
* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.
Alan C Banner served in Samoa and died in April, 1972.
The cause of death was deemed to be Accident-natural factors.
Alan C Banner (M)
Died: 04/16/72
Age: 25
Serving in: Samoa
Died in: Samoa
Cause of Death: severe mutalation: shark attack
Cause of death category: accident-natural factors
Notes: PCV attacked and killed by shark while swimming. Body not found. Another PCV witnessed attack.
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 - Samoa; Safety and Security of Volunteers; Obituaries; Volunteer Fatalities: Accident-natural factors
PCOL9100
68
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Hi!I was just surfing through the 'net and I found this website for Peace Corps.I am originally from Uafato Samoa and my mother just came back from there last week.She brought photos of my family taken by the leader of the Peace Corp that were in Uafato in 1973.My mother did not know the name of the man that brought the photos and I would like to be in contact with him.Sir,if you are reading this,could you please contact me.I've provided my e-mail and I would like to personally thank you for going back to Samoa with those photos you brought back.It brought back a lot of good memories for the people in our family and it was fun looking at my older siblings and cousins when they were little.Thanks again.Tofa soifua.
I am happy to find this website. I am a RPCV, Samoa, group 4, '70-'71. Alan and I were friends. We both worked in fisheries. I visited him often in Aleipata and he stayed with us when he came to Apia. I visited him at his home on Oahu and he told me his parents were marine biologists with UofH. He was born and raised diving and exploring the oceans and reefs. In Samoa we spent many hours singing while he played his ukulele. I still have wonderful memories of the good times. It was a terrible shock when we learned of his death. He often went spearfishing off the island, Nu'ulua, where he collected turtle eggs for his hatchery project. There is no fringing reef there. The ocean drops off steeply. His girlfriend, Robin, witnessed the attack. (Sorry, I don't know her full name or group.) I would very much like to hear from any RPCV's from Samoa. My wife, Kalala, is Samoan and we plan to settle there permanently in two or three years. Ia, manuia lava! plewisn@comcast.net
I was surprised and happy to stumble on this sight. In 1976 I found myself following in Alan's footsteps at the Turtle Hatchery in Aleipata. Having lived with Viliamu Matagi and his family, who had hosted Alan 4 years earlier, I have found that their stories of his work at the hatchery and respect for him have stayed with me as one of my strongest memories of that time. Viliamu always marveled at his spearfishing ability, and I think by the time of my arrival he was nearly a legend in the village.