Richard Sackett Thompson

Died peacefully at his home in Bethesda on March 7, at the age of 83.

He was born in Spokane, WA in 1933, and grew up in Pullman, WA. After graduating from Washington State University in 1955, he attended Oxford University for two years as a Rhodes Scholar, followed by two years in the Army. From 1960 to 1987, he was a Foreign Service Officer with the State Department. He served in Aruba and Curacao, Niger, Vietnam, France, and Algeria, as well as tours at State Department headquarters in Washington. The highlight of his career was his three tours in Saigon. He arrived in Vietnam in January 1968, one week before the Tet offensive, which included an attack on the U.S. Embassy. His final tour in Vietnam ended when he was evacuated by helicopter from the Embassy roof during the Fall of Saigon in April 1975. In 1972-73, he participated in the Vietnam peace talks in Paris. While serving at the U.S. Embassy in Algiers from 1980 to 1982, he supported the negotiations for the release of the American hostages in Iran. After leaving the Foreign Service, he worked for 12 years at the American Foreign Service Association. He also had a M.A. in Government from Georgetown.

Mr. Thompson enjoyed travel, tennis, music, walking on the towpath, and spending time with family. He is survived by his son John of Bethesda, daughter Francesca of Washington, D.C., and son Alex of Columbus, OH, as well as grand-daughters Stella, Sophia, Lucy, Roxanne, and Nina. A memorial service will be held on April 3, 2017, at 2:00 p.m. at the chapel at Joseph Gawler's Sons, LLC, 5130 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, DC. Donations in his memory may be made to the Albert W. Thompson Scholarship Fund at the Washington State University Foundation.

http://www.afsa.org/sites/default/files/vietnamArchivedContentFromFSJ010.pdf