AMBASSADOR LAISE: Mr. Secretary, colleagues:

At the conclusion of a course well run, it is customary
in institutions to look back and to single out those who
have contributed so heavily to the success of the endeavor.
And, as you know, we have, the last few weeks, been doing
this in this building, recognizing the outstanding service
rendered by those who have devoted themselves to the cause
of the United States. And it seems particularly appropriate
that in this context we should also turn to the field, and
also reward some of the acts of heroism and merit that have
been performed there. And one place stands out in
particular that seems to merit this kind of recognition at
this time and that is Vietnam. I suppose, given the confusion
and the chaos that existed there, we will never be able to
recognize all who should be recognized for heroism and acts
of great valor, and perhaps we should have a memorial for the
unsung heroes. But in the absence of that it has been the
endeavor of the Department Awards Committee, Mr. Secretary,
to go over what has been submitted from the Vietnam group
and single out those who could, I think, be recognized by
their colleagues as being singular in their contribution.
We are gathered here today to recognize six of those who are
here in Washington out of the thirty-three awards that are
being made for the service of the Foreign Service in Vietnam.
Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY KISSINGER: Ladies and gentlemen:

Vietnam was, of course, a tragic experience and it has acquired
so many overtones that it is not easy to speak about it
anymore. It is not easy to remember that the people who went
in there originally thought they were serving the cause of
freedom and our fundamental American values. Nor is it easy
to remember that those of us who inherited the original
commitment could not consider it a trivial matter how the
United States, on which so many other countries depended,
would disengage from a commitment that had brought 500,000
Americans to that country. We all have our own memories of
Vietnam, and we all recall the bitterness of the debate
that it generated. As I look back to the visits I paid to
Vietnam, I remember above all the dedication of the members
of the Foreign Service whom I met there. Phil Habib introduced
me first to the provincial reporters who were attempting to
understand the complexities of a foreign country, and alien
civilization, and who worked with great dedication to bring

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Award for Valor: Brunson McKinley.

"For sustained outstanding performance and for individual acts of courage under very dangerous circumstances during the evacuation of Danang, Vietnam, March, 1975." (Applause)

Meritorious Honor Award: David C. Harr.

"For unusual devotion to duty under difficult and dangerous circumstances in the evacuation of Americans and Vietnamese from Quang Ngai and Danang, Vietnam, March 1975." (Applause)

Meritorious Honor Award: Joseph N. McBride.

"For unusual devotion to duty under extremely adverse circumstances and conditions in assisting the evacuation of Vietnamese and relatives of Americans from Saigon, April 1975." (Applause)

Meritorious Honor Award: Gerald W. Scott

"For unusual devotion to duty under difficult and dangerous circumstances in the evacuation of Americans and Vietnamese from Hue and Danang, and subsequently from Nha Trang, Vietnam, March - April, 1975." (Applause)

Meritorious Honor Award: Theresa A. Tull.

"For unusual devotion to duty under difficult circumstances in planning and directing the evacuation of the staff of the provincial offices of Consulate General Danang, Vietnam, March 1975." (Applause)

Let me thank you all again for what you did under those tragic circumstances of which you can be proud of your actions. And I want to thank Ambassador Martin for what he did under thankless conditions and without excessive appreciation afterwards in the service of his country.

Thank you. (Applause)

* * * * *

THE SECRETARY OF STATE
AFSA AWARDS CEREMONY

January 18, 1977

Abraham Lincoln told the story about the Eastern potentate
who asked his wise men -- to write a statement suitable to
anything that might happen anywhere in the world at any time.
What they produced was "This, too, shall pass away."
Evidently that thought comforted Lincoln; no doubt it has been
a daily comfort to you during the past three and a quarter years.

If the adage is true -- "the one who goes is happier than
those he leaves behind" -- I do not understand why there are so
many smiling faces here. For my part, happiness is far from
my strongest feeling in leaving the Department. At a recent
ceremony in this auditorium, Mrs. Dean Acheson told us that
her husband's farewell to the Department and the Foreign
Service in 1953 was probably the most poignant moment in his life.

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It is a no less moving occasion for me. Tomorrow, I will leave here as Secretary for the last time -- maybe -- and I can think of no more fitting way to spend some of my final moments here than in speaking to this group.

When I arrived here in September 1973, we were in the midst of an era of fundamental change in international politics. We were reorienting our relationships with our traditional postwar adversaries; our relations with our traditional postwar allies were changing to take account of their greater relative strength; and new economic issues, requiring the cooperation of rich and poor nations alike, had moved toward the top of the international agenda. Domestically, we were into a period of lowered expectations and cynicism in foreign policy, a period

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in which the Presidency was losing the moral authority it had
enjoyed and with which it had been able to dominate the conduct
of foreign policy since the early 1940s.

What concerned me most was whether this Department
and the Foreign Service could adequately meet the demands of
an increasingly complex and subtle era in world affairs, play its
role in reconciling increasingly complex and interrelated
domestic and foreign policy interests. The Department had
to assume responsibility for operations as well as policy; to master new
and specialized subjects; to become more effective in resolving
policy issues within the Executive Branch and in dealing with
an increasingly assertive Congress.

[47]

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For these reasons, on taking up my duties, I challenged you to do more interpretive reporting, analysis, and conceptual thinking; to clarify rather than compromise policy options in the foreign policy-making process; and to dissent when you differed substantially with the policies we had adopted.

From the beginning it was clear to me that the last of these challenges, at least, would be met -- with pleasure and enthusiasm. [I asked for it, and I got it.] Thus it is appropriate that my last official public engagement should be at a ceremony honoring those who have disagreed with me.

But to be perfectly serious, I can say at the end of three and a quarter years that you have measured up to each of these challenges:

[7]

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-- You have proved that you have professional skill, judgement, and dedication to duty second to no other group of public servants.

-- You have demonstrated your capacity for change when it is necessary.

-- The quality of Foreign Service reporting, (which was already good,) is now even better, with more interpretation and analysis.

-- The substantive work within the Department is of a higher professional and intellectual caliber.

-- There is a broader and deeper view, and a greater role for policy planning and research and intelligence.

[y]

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Meanwhile, the Department has taken a better hold of its

own organization problems:

-- Mechanisms have been established to allocate our personnel and funds in accordance with the country's foreign policy priorities.

-- Strides have been made toward a more comprehensive professional development program.

-- A start has been made in finding women and representatives of ethnic minorities for responsible positions.

-- And there is a good grievance system and a less medieval attitude toward employee rights and concerns.

In my remarks at the AFSA Awards ceremony in 1974, I said that I hoped to leave behind a professional service which handled problems as creative opportunities, which had a deep and

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foresighted perception of the national interest and the stamina
to fight for this at home and overseas. I also said that if this
Department did its job as it should, you would inevitably be at the
center of the foreign policy process, because your judgment
and advice, based on your experience and expertise, would be
indispensable to those making policy.

Today I can look back and say that I believe you have moved
toward that goal. In a world that faces many dangers and
opportunities, it will be primarily up to you to provide continuity
of policy, the balanced judgement that comes from experience,
and the skill to persuade others -- at home and overseas -- to
see these realities.

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There is a widespread notion today that the growing
interdependence of foreign and domestic issues, and the
improvement of communications and transportation, have
undermined the role of the Foreign Service, and reduced embassies
to little more than message centers and travel agencies. But
there is no doubt in my mind that these assertions of the death
of diplomacy are highly exaggerated. For diplomacy is
concerned with the enduring problems of relations among
nations, the lasting challenge of peace and progress, and the
need to minimize friction and misunderstanding. More than
ever, Foreign Service people must have the ability to
understand and interpret events and conditions in other
countries; to comprise a continuously open channel and
intermediary between our own government and society

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and the one where they serve. As foreign policy grows more
complex, the men and women of the Foreign Service become
the repositories of continuity, the conscience of America's
permanent interests and values, prepared to serve whatever
Administration is in office with the dedication America's
global responsibilities demand of us.

No one articulated the unchanging nature of your profession
better than a former French ambassador to this country,
Jules Cambon who once wrote:

"Expressions such as 'old diplomacy' and 'new
diplomacy' bear no relation to reality. It is the outward
form -- if you like, the 'adornments' of diplomacy that
are undergoing a change. The substance must remain the
same, since human nature is unalterable; since there
exists no other method of regulating international
differences; and since the best instrument at the disposal

[x]

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of a government wishing to persuade another government
will always remain the spoken word of a decent man."

If Cambon were here today he would have taken care to say
"a decent person". "The spoken word of a decent person" --
that is your professional responsibility, your professional legacy
and your high goal. So long as you maintain your professionalism,
and the level of performance you have attained over the past
three years, I repeat that you need not, and should not, complain
about not being consulted in foreign policy-making. No one has a
claim to being consulted; it must be earned. If you do the job of
which you are capable, you will be consulted, because you will be
the best source of advice available.

It is no accident that almost all my principal assistants are
career Foreign Service Officers; I have chosen them because they were

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the best people available and because we will never have a
professional service if it is not used for <u>all</u> positions I
support the American Foreign Service Association's attempts
to help the President-elect carry out his commitment to make
diplomatic appointments on the basis of merit, and I have no
doubt that most of the time, foreign service people are the most
meritorious.

The Members of the Department of State and the Foreign
Service have the assurance that in carrying out your responsibilities
to this country, you are striving not essentially for narrow
national goals, but for a humane and peaceful world -- that
world alone in which the United States will be secure, prosperous,
and humane and in which other nations can live in peace and freedom.
On assuming the office which I now leave, Thomas Jefferson
wrote Lafayette:

4

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"I think with others that nations are to be governed with regard to their own interests, but I am convinced that it is their interests in the long run to be grateful, faithful to their engagements even in the worst of circumstances, and honorable and generous always."

This blend of stern reality and humane ideals is as good a statement of our ultimate foreign policy objective as I know. In working for this goal you have the unique privilege not only of serving your country but the interests of all mankind.

I leave this building and this office with deep emotions: