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Peter E. Bergin Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security Remarks before the Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism, and Government Information of the House Committee on the Judiciary Washington, DC, May 14, 1998

Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee: I am pleased to have this opportunity to appear before you during National Police Week, as you work to provide congressional recognition for acts of exceptional valor by our nation's public safety officers. Those of us in the law enforcement and security community very much appreciate your ongoing and effective support.

I am particularly proud to be accompanied today by Diplomatic Security Agent John Frese, who by any accounting must be considered a true American hero. But, before I recount Agent Frese's personal acts of self-sacrifice and valor, I'd like to briefly describe the Department of State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS), where Special Agent Frese and his colleagues daily confront the hazards of terrorism and crime throughout the world. This year alone, DS agents were the recipients of three national awards for heroism conferred by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers' Association.

DS is a worldwide cadre of about 1,200 individuals, including special agents, engineers, couriers, security specialists, and other security professionals dedicated to providing a secure working environment for the conduct of foreign affairs through a commitment to the protection of life, information, and property. Our mission includes the protection of the Secretary of State, other senior government officials, visiting foreign dignitaries, and foreign missions in the United States; and, the conduct of criminal, counterintelligence, and personal security investigations. We have important responsibilities for ensuring the integrity of passports and visas as part of our nation's border security program, providing professional law enforcement and security training to U.S. and foreign personnel, and conducting a complex overseas security program that services the needs of our missions and the resident U.S. citizen and business communities.

It is in the performance of this last function, as a DS Regional Security Officer (RSO), during the Liberian crisis in 1996, that John Frese's acts of courage earned him the Secretary of State's award for valor, and an award for heroism by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers' Association. Disregarding his own safety, John personally orchestrated the rescue of hundreds of Americans and expatriates from other countries trapped by fierce fighting that had erupted throughout the capitol city of Monrovia, while at the same time providing protection to thousands of Americans, United Nations personnel, expatriates who took refuge on the U.S. embassy compound, and the 25,000 Liberians who had fled to the U.S. embassy's residential compound. Let me relate just a few of the details surrounding John's extraordinary acts of valor.

Early on a Saturday morning in April 1996, fierce fighting erupted between several major warring factions that soon engulfed the entire city and turned Monrovia into a living nightmare for its inhabitants. No one and no place was immune from the brutal and wholesale looting that was to rage around the clock for weeks. These fighters showed no remorse when killing innocent people and indiscriminately destroying whole sections of the city. Thousands of people took refuge on our embassy compound where they were under constant threat from rockets, bullets, and fighters who frequently forced their way onto the compound or posed threats from outside. John organized the defense of the compound with the few assets at his disposal. Time and time again, standing alone, he talked and reasoned with the fighters to defuse potentially deadly confrontations. Once the U.S. Military arrived John was their only liaison with the fighters.

On one notable occasion, John commandeered two armored personnel carriers from the West African Peacekeeping Force (ECOMOG), and dissuaded approximately 30 heavily armed fighters from coming onto the compound. On another occasion, when one of the fighters put a grenade to his face threatening to explode it, John was again able to defuse the situation. When 40 United Nations officers were trapped in their building, it was John who went in and rescued them. It seemed that John never slept throughout this entire ordeal, was always there when needed, and always up to the challenge. But these events were only the beginning of his heroic actions.

In addition to those who sought refuge on our compound, hundreds of Americans and third-country nationals were trapped in the city. Fighters were entering their residences and threatening the occupants with rape and murder. Fighters began burning homes and businesses. Pleas for help poured into the embassy over the radio and by telephone. John, in a calm and cool manner, instructed them on the steps they needed to follow and when they would be rescued. Those who attempted to flee to the embassy by themselves encountered fighters who physically beat them, threatened them with death, and took all their belongings, including vehicles. For the hundreds that remained in their homes, John was their only option out of a deteriorating situation, and they put their total trust in him.

On his own initiative, John personally organized the rescue mission and headed out into harm's way. For five days, with no regard for his own safety, he personally drove into some of the most contested areas of the city searching for desperate Americans and third-country nationals, literally braving constant fire and passing through dozens of checkpoints manned by children and teenagers armed with machetes, knives and automatic weapons.

As staff at the embassy worked furiously to contact Americans by radio and phone to prepare them for rescue, John, using his knowledge of the city, raced through the hostile environment to locate them. Through sheer determination, John was able to rescue an estimated 250 Americans and another 100 nationals. He did everything he could to ensure that no one--no one--was left behind.

As if this were not enough, John also single-handedly orchestrated relief convoys of food and water to thousands of refugees scattered throughout the city--a city that seemed engulfed in flames. John personally drove the convoys to those refugees most in need. He also organized relief convoys for the 25,000 Liberians who had taken refuge on the embassy's residential compound, and ensured that medicine got to its destination.

John's performance was truly above and beyond the call of duty. For his actions, John received a personal message from the President that reads:

Dear Mr. Frese:

I want to offer my personal thanks for your heroic efforts to locate and rescue American citizens in Monrovia and facilitate their evacuation from Liberia. Your leadership and courage in the face of tremendous danger have been exemplary. I am grateful for your selfless actions and your skill under pressure during this emergency evacuation. You have played an invaluable role in this operation and contributed greatly to the safety and well being of all of those involved. You should be proud of your contribution. Please accept my personal best wishes for your continued success.

We are all grateful for the selfless actions and the skill under pressure shown by John and the other public safety officers who are with us here today. On behalf of the Department of State and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, I want to thank you for helping us express our appreciation to these genuine heroes, and for the opportunity to hold them up as examples of what is best in America and the world.

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