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John R. Clingerman
John R. Clingerman
Date published: 6/8/2004
John Rufus Clingerman, 73, retired Foreign Service Officer and former U.S. ambassador, died of cancer at his home in Locust Grove, Saturday, May 29, 2004. He was born in Donipham County, Kan., May 9, 1931, and in 1936 his family relocated to Lansing, Mich., where he grew up. He earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1953 and a master's degree in history in 1957, both from Michigan State University. Between 1953 and 1955, he served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army in Germany and France. Clingerman joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1957. In addition to several Washington, D.C., assignments, he held positions in Nepal, where he helped to open the first U.S. embassy, 1959-1961; Republic of Congo, now Zaire, 1962-1964; Dahomey, now Benin, 1966-1969; Belgium 1969-1972; and Zambia 1976-1979. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Lesotho 1979-1981 and as director of African Affairs for the U.S. Information Agency 1983-1986. During his career with the State Department, he continued his education at the Sorbonne, University of Paris 1965-1966, and the National War College in Washington, D.C., 1975-1976. He also developed and taught courses at the University of Redlands, Calif., 1982-1983. He retired from the Foreign Service in 1987. In 1964, Clingerman played a key role in the execution and aftermath of Dragon Rouge, a joint Belgian-U.S. paracommando operation mounted in November 1964, to rescue more than 1,600 Americans, Europeans, and other international hostages held in the Congo by hostile forces. In 1965, he received the State Department's Distinguished Honor Award for heroism for bravery under hostile fire. Other honors include, in 1976, the Department of State Superior Honor Award for outstanding direction of a U.S. Embassy, Lusaka, Zambia, and, in 1986, the United States Information Agency Distinguished Honor Award for outstanding leadership and management. After his retirement, Clingerman was a member of the faculty of Troy State University, teaching graduate-level courses on international relations at US. Army and Air Force bases in Germany, the United Kingdom and the Azores. He also lectured on international relations, cross-cultural communication and psychological warfare strategies as a consultant to the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg. N.C. In 1951, John Clingerman married Ruth "Polly" Muilenberg, who died Aug. 13, 2000. They had no children. He is survived by three sisters, Marion Shotwell of Michigan Center, Mich., Ethel Donn of Lansing, Mich., and Ann Lauterbach of Lansing; and one brother, Edgar Clingerman of Jackson, Mich. Services will be private. Ar-rangements are being handled by Johnson Funeral Home, Locust Grove, 540/854-5100.
Date published: 6/8/2004
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