ASSISTANT SECRETARY PHEE: Good morning, and welcome to the Department of State. Ladies, gentlemen, distinguished guests, there are so many of you here I can't single any one of you out, but we're delighted to welcome you back here to what we hope you consider to be your second home.
I am honored and humbled to be with you all today as we remember those who lost their lives and were injured on August 7th, 1998.
To the families, we are so grateful that you are sharing your day of remembrance with all of us here at the department. This day is a somber one for us, too, as we reflect on the loss and pain of the past 25 years.
I would like to recognize my good friends from Kenya and Tanzania, the ambassador from the - from Kenya, Ambassador Lazarus Amayo, and the ambassador from Tanzania, Elsie Kanza. You stand in solidarity with us. We remember the loss and pain you and your countrymen suffered as well.
Today we have a two-part program. First, we will remember. We will remember the tragic events of 25 years ago and honor those who were lost, injured, and deeply impacted.
Second, we will discuss resilience. Our panel following the ceremony will discuss how the department has learned and grown to strengthen embassy security protocols, increase support for survivors, and equip the next generation with the tools to prevent and respond to terrorist attacks.
It is a great personal honor for me to introduce Ambassadors Bushnell and Lange, who frankly don't need any introduction, but as you know were present on the day of the attacks. Ambassador Bushnell was the U.S. ambassador to Kenya at the time of the bombing, and Ambassador Lange was the charge d'affaires in Tanzania. We continue to benefit from their leadership and their support to the Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam communities.
Thank you very much. (Applause.)
AMBASSADOR BUSHNELL: Good morning. Mr. Secretary, ambassadors, friends - 25 years ago, the Nairobi and U.S. embassy communities shattered when an al-Qaida-directed truck bomb blew up 218 neighbors and colleagues, injuring 4,000 more. Jesse Aliganga, Julian Bartley, Jay Bartley, Rose Dalizu, Molly Hardy, Ken Hobson, Prabhi Kavaler, Arlene Kirk, Louise Martin, Michelle O'Connor, Sherry Olds, Tom Shah were loved ones of many here and part of my community. Alongside 34 Kenyan colleagues who also died inside the embassy, they were striving to make a positive difference when they were cut down.
On the streets outside, thousands of Nairobi citizens, moms and dads, commuters, small business owners, secretarial school students, school children, either lost their lives or endured changing wounds forever.
The day after the bombing, our most critically wounded were going to be medically evacuated. Teams of Kenyan and American colleagues were searching morgues, hospitals, and neighborhoods for our missing. Nairobi citizens were still desperately crawling through the rubble for survivors of the collapsed Ufundi House. We had learned of the bombing in Dar Es Salaam.
I was expected to be in three places at the same time, and for some reason the words of a former boss, Don Leidel, came into my brain: Take care of your people, and the rest will take care of itself. That became my leadership mantra and strategy. You see, I was the ambassador and chief of mission. I had personal responsibility for the safety of U.S. Government employees outside of military command, and American citizens in country. I tried. My efforts to persuade senior decision makers in the department to relocate a chancery that did not meet our own security standards from a vulnerable location produced feedback - stop nagging - but little else.
At that time, department principals were keen to manage, to do things right, to stay within starvation budgets by waiving security requirements. As chief of mission and community leader, I needed to lead, to do the right thing. And so I kept pushing back. Finally wrote the secretary of state. Three months later we were blown up. I would never have been able to face the people I face today, to have seen the pain, the sorrow, and the righteous anger of the families who lost, of survivors, victims, and many citizens in Nairobi had I not known that I did my leadership best.
And what did the people do who were supposed to take care of the rest? They dug themselves out of the rubble, they re-created their organizations, they assisted others, they helped one another to heal, and they created the August 7th Memorial Park - a foundation, the names of your loved ones, our former colleagues, our neighbors are etched in stone in an oasis of green. Their lives and their memories formed the mission purpose of the memorial, a place on which evil took place - but no more. The mission purpose, because of those who died, is to be a symbol of hope, peace, and reconciliation. What a difference they made.
Thank you. (Applause.)
AMBASSADOR LANGE: Thank you, Molly and Prue. Secretary Blinken, Ambassadors, distinguished guests, in August 1998, those of at the U.S. Embassy in Dar Es Salaam were working with the Tanzanian Government to strengthen democratic institutions, spur economic growth, improve health and education, and promote regional stability. It was the kind of work that the Foreign Service does every day, all over the world, and we were proud to represent the United States.
August 7th began as another beautiful day in Dar Es Salaam. Then without warning a truck bomb with 1,500 to 2,000 pounds of TNT exploded on the street just outside the embassy. Everyone here who was in Dar or Nairobi that day can remember the exact second the bomb went off. And I was just talking today to Ambassador Kanza, who can remember where she was in the central bank where she was working at the time in Dar es Salaam. Everyone remembers that.
For me, I remember I was in my office sitting on a sofa with my back against the outside wall. And I remember - and I can still see it in slow motion - the glass from the window behind me blew over my head and landed on the people in front of me. Thankfully, none of those - none of them were seriously injured because it was a Mylar plastic film on the glass, so it came in sheets rather than shards. But 11 people perished in that bombing, and over 85 were injured.
The dead included the husband of an American Fulbright Fellow - Susan Hirsch — her husband, Jamal Abdalla died, Foreign Service national employees died, security guards and contractors died. The embassy and nearly all nearby residences and office buildings were devastated. As The New York Times described it: "The back of the embassy had been peeled away by the bomb. Staircases hung… in the air, and concrete slabs blown from the building were strewn over the grounds. Nearby cars had become steel skeletons."
Our embassy, like the one in Nairobi, was far from meeting security standards. We had only a 30-foot setback from the street. No one working for the United States abroad should have to work in insecure facilities. While it is comforting to know that many new, more secure embassies have been built since those tragic events in Dar and Nairobi 25 years ago, much more needs to be done. Nothing is more important than protecting our people.
One of the most striking things about the response by the survivors - many of whom are with us here today - was how American personnel, their family members, and locally employed staff took on duties they were never trained or expected to do. In Dar Es Salaam, we consoled the families of those who died and cared for the injured - several of whom were medically evacuated. We set up an airport operation, arranged for hotel accommodations, and fed the 350 American TDY personnel who arrived to support us. We re-established embassy operations in what had been the residence of the public affairs officer guarded by U.S. Marines. And we worked with the Tanzanian Government and the FBI to assist in the investigation that led to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida.
And I know that many of those who were in Dar that day, and I assume that many of those were in Nairobi that day, subsequently suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. I understand that there's not - now an effort in Congress to increase the number of personnel in the Bureau of Medical Services who address mental health needs, and I think that's long overdue. I would hope that Med would do a mental health survey of current and retired employees and dependents who went through traumatic situations in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.
For the victims of the 1998 bombings, it's never been done.
One of the fundamental lessons that I draw from the bombings is how critical it is for the State Department and other foreign affairs agencies to recruit and retain top-notch career employees, train them properly, house them in secure facilities, and reward them for their service.
When the bomb went off, no one had the time to read the post's emergency action plan under the tab "Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device." We responded by instinct based on years, often decades, of training and experience. I look on all of the Dar and Nairobi responders as heroes, and none of us will ever forget that tragic day. Thank you. (Applause.)
MS BARTLEY: Good morning. It is a privilege and honor for me to be here with you today. As part of this historic commemoration, I serve as a voice for families directly impacted by the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa. I was fortunate to grow up around the world as part of a Foreign Service family, even being born at our first post, the Dominican Republic. My greatest joy, like most of you, is my family. I'm eternally grateful to have here with us today my mother, Mary Bartley. She's a true pillar of strength and wisdom. My late father, Julian L. Bartley, Sr., a career diplomat, and my brother, Julian L. Bartley, Jr. an intern and college student, also were killed in the bombings. My husband Stephen Rice and I are the proud parents of Alexandra Olivia Bartley Rice, our biggest - our family's biggest blessing and my greatest joy.
Families from the embassy bombing are here today, and several gathered last night for dinner. We thank you, Mr. Secretary, the African Bureau, and the senior leadership for embracing our families today and for making our requests for a special 25th commemoration a reality this year.
The near-simultaneous bombings of our embassies in East Africa were not only attacks on U.S. soil abroad, but they were attacks on humanity. They were the precursor to 9/11. Twelve selfless, brave Americans who represented the Foreign Service, Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, and other agencies were killed. Many more Foreign Service nationals, also known as locally employed staff, were also killed. Many people live with physical injuries, and others live with the pain and trauma of loss every day. I think it is safe for me to say all families impacted want to ensure this day is never forgotten.
Please, would victims and survivors of terrorism, the injured and families of those, kindly, briefly please stand and be acknowledged? Each of you and our families are part of the history and legacy of the State Department. The legacy of our loved ones, colleagues, and friends killed should live on through each of us in a meaningful way. Thank you. Please be seated.
How do we do this important work? We as citizens of this great nation must tell their story and preserve their earned place in history. Our families carry the burden of telling the story of the bombing and of our loved ones, colleagues, and friends. Our gathering today at this historic diplomacy museum is symbolic. Mr. Secretary, thank you for making State Department personnel among your highest priorities. Your presence today and the time you spend with us reflects your commitment to helping preserve this important chapter in State Department history. Please help ensure that future secretaries of state do the same.
More than 8,000 Foreign Service employees work at U.S. embassies and other diplomatic missions. We want to underscore to Congress the need to properly fund the State Department to carry out its mission safely and be able to care for its own when tragedy strikes. The work has been and continues to be dangerous. As long as there is instability in the world and democracy struggling to be formed, the dangers remain. Diverse young professionals need to know about the important career opportunities at State and feel confident that the risk they take on is highly valued. Newly minted Foreign Service officers and embassy personnel need to know their families will be taken care of and never forgotten if tragedy strikes. The most precious asset of our U.S. embassies and consulates are the human personnel.
