Every year, Americans celebrate Veterans Day on Nov. 11. Many readers may not know that there is a Foreign Service Day, designed to honor our diplomats’ contributions to our national security, economic development and job creation.

In 1996, then-U.S. Senator Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kan.) submitted a resolution to the Senate to designate the first Friday in May of each year as “American Foreign Service Day.” Since that year, the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development and other foreign affairs agencies have used the occasion to celebrate the thousands of patriotic men and women of the U.S. Foreign Service who serve our country in embassies and consulates located in all but three nations around the world.

The West Virginia Panhandle and nearby Virginia is home to approximately 50 retired Foreign Service professionals and their families. We get together at least once a year to tell stories and eat lunch. Most of us are active in community affairs.

Please take a moment to learn more about this cadre of patriotic public servants who are deployed worldwide to protect and serve America’s people, interests and values every day of the year. As a retired member of the Foreign Service, I hope your readers will take the opportunity to think of America’s diplomats and development professionals on this year’s Foreign Service Day.

Thanks,

Renny Smith

U.S. Consul (Retired)

Bakerton