• 1962.09.09: September 9, 1962: Headlines: COS - Indonesia: New York Times: Sukarno Reported Inviting Peace Corps to Indonesia  Monday, February 23, 2009 - 5:37 pm [1]

• 1962.09.12: September 12, 1962: Headlines: COS - Indonesia: New York Times: Communist youth organization urges President Sukarno to ban United States Peace Corps activities in Indonesia  Monday, February 23, 2009 - 5:36 pm [1]

• 1962.11.29: November 29, 1962: Headlines: COS - Indonesia: New York Times: Indonesia Seeks Peace Corps Aid  Monday, February 23, 2009 - 5:35 pm [1]

• 1963.05.31: May 31, 1963: Headlines: COS - Indonesia: New York Times: Indonesian Reds Jeer US Peace Corps Volunteers  Monday, February 23, 2009 - 5:34 pm [1]

• 1963.09.01: September 1, 1963: Headlines: COS - Indonesia: New York Times: More Peace Corps Volunteers arrive in Indonesia  Monday, February 23, 2009 - 5:34 pm [1]

• 1963.10.01: October 1, 1963: Headlines: COS - Indonesia: New York Times: Peace Corps Record in Indonesia Defended by Sargent Shriver  Monday, February 23, 2009 - 5:33 pm [1]

• 1965.01.13: January 13, 1965: Headlines: COS - Indonesia: New York Times: Authorities in central Sumatra had halted the activities of a United States Peace Corps sports coach Mark Mittag  Monday, February 23, 2009 - 5:33 pm [1]

• 1965.04.06: April 6, 1965: Headlines: COS - Indonesia: New York Times: Indonesians Expel Peace Corps Volunteer Judith J. Heining  Monday, February 23, 2009 - 5:32 pm [1]

• 1965.04.11: April 11, 1965: Headlines: COS - Indonesia: New York Times: Communists in Indonesia Harass Peace Corps Volunteers  Monday, February 23, 2009 - 5:31 pm [1]

• 1965.04.15: April 15, 1965: Headlines: COS - Indonesia: New York Times: Peace Corps to Quit Indonesia  Monday, February 23, 2009 - 5:30 pm [1]

• 2003.01.01: January 1, 2003: Headlines: COS - Indonesia: Indonesian Destinies By Theodore Friend: The Short Sweet Life of the Peace Corps in Indonesia in the 1960's  Monday, February 23, 2009 - 5:15 pm [1]

Country Director David Burgess writes: Leading the Peace Corps in Indonesia 1963 - 1964



The director of the Peace Corps, Sargent Shriver, wanted to send volunteers to Indonesia, and Sukarno was willing to have them come, but in what capacity? There was a feeling in both Washington and Jakarta that the volunteers should stay out of activities such as economic development and community organizing which might smell of a secret political agenda. But sports was another matter. Sukarno and the Indonesian people at large were sports-crazy. The government was organizing and international mini-Olympics called the Fames of the New Emerging Forces in 1963, using Sukarno's term for the newly independent Third World. The Soviets, ever quick to recognize a clinet's wises, had stepped in and built a huge sports complex in Jakarta. The Peace Corps, it was decided, would get in on the sports boom too, offering famous American expertise i the athletic arts. The Indonesians agreed. Thus it happened that, with the exception of one English teacher, the eighteen volunteers I met a Iowa State were all coaches, skilled in such sports as track, basketball, and swimming.

Despite the excellent leadership of my successor, Alex Shakov, all was not well in Indonesia with the expanded team of thirty-two Peace Corps coaches. Tensions between the PKI and the military's Generals Council were growing. Sukarno's precarious balancing act between these two contending forces seemed less and less tenable. So the State Department in 1965 sent Ambassador-at-Large Ellsworth Bunker to evaluate the work of the volunteers and recommend whether or not they should remain in Indonesia. In his report, Bunker praised the coaches for hard work and popularity, but concluded that because of the potential threats to their safety, they should leave Indonesia. So in mid-1965 the coaches said farewell to their man Indonesian friends. Some returned to America, while others joined Peace Corps programs in other Asian countries. Thus a modest but highly successful Peace Corps program came to an end.

Country Director David Burgess writes: Leading the Peace Corps in Indonesia 1963 - 1964

The director of the Peace Corps, Sargent Shriver, wanted to send volunteers to Indonesia, and Sukarno was willing to have them come, but in what capacity? There was a feeling in both Washington and Jakarta that the volunteers should stay out of activities such as economic development and community organizing which might smell of a secret political agenda. But sports was another matter. Sukarno and the Indonesian people at large were sports-crazy. The government was organizing and international mini-Olympics called the Fames of the New Emerging Forces in 1963, using Sukarno's term for the newly independent Third World. The Soviets, ever quick to recognize a clinet's wises, had stepped in and built a huge sports complex in Jakarta. The Peace Corps, it was decided, would get in on the sports boom too, offering famous American expertise i the athletic arts. The Indonesians agreed. Thus it happened that, with the exception of one English teacher, the eighteen volunteers I met a Iowa State were all coaches, skilled in such sports as track, basketball, and swimming.

Despite the excellent leadership of my successor, Alex Shakov, all was not well in Indonesia with the expanded team of thirty-two Peace Corps coaches. Tensions between the PKI and the military's Generals Council were growing. Sukarno's precarious balancing act between these two contending forces seemed less and less tenable. So the State Department in 1965 sent Ambassador-at-Large Ellsworth Bunker to evaluate the work of the volunteers and recommend whether or not they should remain in Indonesia. In his report, Bunker praised the coaches for hard work and popularity, but concluded that because of the potential threats to their safety, they should leave Indonesia. So in mid-1965 the coaches said farewell to their man Indonesian friends. Some returned to America, while others joined Peace Corps programs in other Asian countries. Thus a modest but highly successful Peace Corps program came to an end.

Excerpted from

Fighting for Social Justice: The Life Story of David Burgess
By David S. Burgess
Contributor Bill Moyers
Edition: illustrated
Published by Wayne State University Press, 2000
ISBN 0814328997, 9780814328996
235 pages

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Peace Corps Annual Report: 2000; Peace Corps Indonesia; Directory of Indonesia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Indonesia RPCVs; Country Directors - Indonesia; Safety and Security of Volunteers

When this story was posted in February 2009, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

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PCOL's Candidate for Peace Corps Director Honduras RPCV Jon Carson, 33, presided over thousands of workers as national field director for the Obama campaign and said the biggest challenge -- and surprise -- was the volume of volunteer help, including more than 15,000 "super volunteers," who were a big part of what made Obama's campaign so successful. PCOL endorses Jon Carson as the man who can revitalize the Peace Corps, bring it into the internet age, and meet Obama's goal of doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011.

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Director Ron Tschetter: The PCOL Interview Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter sat down for an in-depth interview to discuss the evacuation from Bolivia, political appointees at Peace Corps headquarters, the five year rule, the Peace Corps Foundation, the internet and the Peace Corps, how the transition is going, and what the prospects are for doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011. Read the interview and you are sure to learn something new about the Peace Corps. PCOL previously did an interview with Director Gaddi Vasquez.

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Jan 24, 2009: RPCVs March in Inauguration Peace Corps Community marches in Inaugural Parade 20 Jan Jane Albritton writes: Memories of Maury Albertson 18 Jan Sarah Chayes writes: Failing Afghanistan 15 Dec Volunteers in Guinea are Safe 23 Dec Jim Walsh reflects on 20 years of service 28 Dec Public service in Driehaus' blood 3 Jan An Interview with Kathleen Stephens 3 Jan Robert P. Cristo returns to Nigeria 4 Jan Sarah Holt makes 2,663-mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail 5 Jan Zophia Kneiss is metal sculptor 11 Jan Harris Wofford is Godfather of National Service 12 Jan Melanie Edwards founds Mobile Metrix 14 Jan Jody Olsen Named PC Acting Director 16 Jan Lawrence Leamer writes: Obama betrays the Peace Corps? 18 Jan George Packer writes: Obama's Inaugural Address 20 Jan Obama going to do something great for Peace Corps 21 Jan John Bridgeland writes: Volunteer to Save the Economy 22 Jan Foy Spicer writes: Electricity as a scarcity 23 Jan Carl Pope to Step Down as Sierra Club Chief 23 Jan James Rupert writes: US Missile Attacks Kill 15 24 Jan Jeffrey Tayler writes "Murderers in Mausoleums" 25 Jan Read more stories from January 2009 and December 2008.

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Some PCVs return to Bolivia on their own Peace Corps has withdrawn all volunteers from Bolivia because of "growing instability" and the expulsion of US Ambassador Philip Goldberg after Bolivian President Evo Morales accused the American government of inciting violence in the country. This is not the first controversy surrounding Goldberg's tenure as US ambassador to Bolivia. Latest: Some volunteers have returned to Bolivia on their own to complete their projects.

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PCVs Evacuated from Georgia The Peace Corps has announced that all Volunteers and trainees serving in the Republic of Georgia are safe and they have been temporarily relocated to neighboring Armenia. Read the analysis by one RPCV on how Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili believed that he could launch a lightning assault on South Ossetia and reclaim the republic without substantial grief from Moscow and that Saakashvili's statements once the war began demonstrated that he expected real Western help in confronting Russia.

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