Lionel Rosenblatt and Craig Johnstone

Two young Foreign Service officers who went back into Saigon to get their colleagues out.

A trip without permission

In April 1975, as South Vietnam collapsed, two Foreign Service officers in Washington, Lionel Rosenblatt and Craig Johnstone, flew to Saigon without authorization. They gathered Vietnamese who had worked with the United States, along with their families, and got them onto evacuation flights.

A career in refugee work

Rosenblatt went on to serve as refugee coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, where in 1979 he was among the first U.S. officials to meet with Hmong leaders, and later led the advocacy group Refugees International. Johnstone rose to senior posts, including ambassador to Algeria.

Why it matters here

Many of the families those diplomats helped have since sent their own children into public service, including the Foreign Service. See Operation Frequent Wind.