September 19, 2005: Headlines: COS - Uruguay: Obituaries: Tucson Citizen: Uruguay Ron St. John didn't consider living outside the Green Zone in Baghdad risk taking
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September 19, 2005: Headlines: COS - Uruguay: Obituaries: Tucson Citizen: Uruguay Ron St. John didn't consider living outside the Green Zone in Baghdad risk taking
Uruguay Ron St. John didn't consider living outside the Green Zone in Baghdad risk taking
Ron didn't make speeches or issue news releases about his dangerous travails. Instead, he worked tirelessly with dozens of young Iraqis in a Baghdad office, putting in 10- to 12-hour days to make sure our experiment in democracy building in the Middle East succeeds.
Uruguay Ron St. John didn't consider living outside the Green Zone in Baghdad risk taking
Hero St. John's courage largely is understated
MICHAEL MURPHY
Ron St. John didn't consider living outside the Green Zone in Baghdad risk taking.
St. John, a former Tucsonan, preferred on the ground personal outreach to the flash of politicians when it came to Iraq.
Ron didn't make speeches or issue news releases about his dangerous travails. Instead, he worked tirelessly with dozens of young Iraqis in a Baghdad office, putting in 10- to 12-hour days to make sure our experiment in democracy building in the Middle East succeeds.
Over a year and a half, Ron met with ordinary people and tribal and religious leaders across the war-ravaged country, often traveling with guards in armored convoys. He had more than a few close calls, but considered the sacrifices and dedication of his Iraqi staff more heroic than his own work.
In January, he wrote of a "surreal experience" when a garbage truck loaded with explosives destroyed his residence.
"The suicide garbage truck was driving down the road to blow up the Australian Embassy when an alert Australian sniper shot the driver, exploding everything early," his e-mail from halfway around the world said. "Thank God for Mylar-coated glass as no one was hurt. I was blown out of bed when all this happened."
So when the call came two weeks ago that Ron had died, I immediately assumed a bomb had finally gotten too close. But it appears Ron died from natural causes in Amman, Jordan, where he was working with the United Nations.
Ron was 46. He was too young to go, but he had accomplished enough for many lifetimes.
"There are few people you meet in life's journey who lead their life with a selfless devotion to their fellow man; Ron St. John was one of them," said political consultant Doug Cole, one of Ron's friends.
I met Ron at the University of Arizona, where he was a journalism student and student body president in 1981-82.
Ron was funny and brilliant. He worked on Burton Barr's gubernatorial campaign as a speech writer in 1986, and later came close to his own campaign for the Arizona Legislature. But he took a different path, using a mix of compassion and personal outreach to bring hope to people across the world.
Ron worked in Central America as an economics professor, teaching young people the basics of free enterprise. Later, he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Uruguay. In the early '90s, Ron seemed destined for a political career when he worked as an aide to Pima County supervisor Mike Boyd.
But calls for help from others pulled Ron away.
In 1997, he moved to Bucharest, Romania, to work for the International Republican Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization chaired by Sen. John McCain. The IRI builds democracies and open governments in places once ruled by communists and tyrants.
Ron later worked in Serbia and Slovakia, but his most satisfying experience was in Iraq where he was buoyed by the success of the Iraqi elections. He expressed pride and hope about educating and registering voters.
"I have nothing but the feeling of honor for working with Iraqis who have put their lives on the line for democracy and the courage they showed on election day," St. John told The Arizona Republic earlier this year.
Today, we are all honored by Ron St. John's courage and understated heroism.
Michael Murphy is communications director for the Arizona Department of Health Services.
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Story Source: Tucson Citizen
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