Cleo A. Noel Jr.
Cleo A. Noel Jr. | |
---|---|
United States Ambassador to Sudan | |
In office December 23, 1972 – March 2, 1973 | |
President | Richard Nixon |
Preceded by | William H. Weathersby |
Succeeded by | William D. Brewer |
Personal details | |
Born | Cleo Allen Noel Jr. August 6, 1918 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. |
Died | March 2, 1973 Khartoum, Sudan | (aged 54)
Alma mater | Moberly Junior College University of Missouri |
Occupation | educator, diplomat |
Cleo Allen Noel Jr. (August 6, 1918 – March 2, 1973) was a
Early life
Born in
Career
Noel worked briefly as an educator, teaching American history at the University of Missouri before joining the United States Navy in June 1941. During World War II he served as a gunnery officer providing security aboard merchant vessels throughout the Pacific Ocean and Persian Gulf; in fall 1945 Noel discharged from the navy at the rank of lieutenant commander.
U.S. Foreign Service career
After the war, while studying for his
Ambassadorship to Sudan and death
On December 23, 1972, Noel was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Sudan when Sudan and the U.S. reestablished diplomatic relations severed as the result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. The outgoing Charge d'Affairs,
On the evening of March 1, 1973, militants from the Black September faction of PLO stormed the Saudi Embassy in Khartoum, where a farewell ceremony for Moore had just concluded. Noel was wounded during the taking, he and Moore were among the ten diplomats taken hostage by the militants. The next day, March 2, the hostage takers shot Noel to death. Also murdered were his deputy, Moore; and Belgian diplomat Guy Eid.
After a joint funeral on March 7 at the National Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C., Cleo Noel Jr. and Curtis Moore were buried with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
See also
References
- Korn, David A., Assassination in Khartoum, Indiana University Press, 1993