Cleo Allen Noel Jr. (August 6, 1918 – March 2, 1973) was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to Sudan who was murdered by the

Black September Black September ( ar, أيلول الأسود; '' Aylūl Al-Aswad''), also known as the Jordanian Civil War, was a conflict fought in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan between the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF), under the leadership of King Huss ...

Palestinian terrorist Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence perpetrated for political ends in relation to the State of Palestine or in connection with Palestinian nationalism. Common political objectives include self-determination in and sovereig ...

organization in the 1973

attack on the Saudi embassy in Khartoum An attack on the Saudi embassy in Khartoum took place on 1 March 1973. It was carried out by the Black September Organization. Ten diplomats were taken hostage. After President Richard Nixon stated that he refused to negotiate with terrorists, ...

Early life

Born in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, an ...

, Noel spent his formative years in

Moberly, Missouri Moberly is a city in Randolph County, Missouri, United States. The population was 13,974 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Columbia, Missouri metropolitan area. History Moberly was founded in 1866, and named after Colonel William E. Moberl ...

. He attended

Moberly Junior College Moberly Area Community College (MACC) is a public community college based in Moberly, Missouri. In addition to the Moberly campus, MACC has four campuses across a large portion of Northeastern and central Missouri: Columbia, Hannibal, Kirksvill ...

and then

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded ...

, receiving a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

in History in 1939 and a

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...

in the same subject in 1940.

Career

Noel worked briefly as an educator, teaching American history at the University of Missouri before joining the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in June 1941. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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 Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

U.S. Foreign Service career

After the war, while studying for his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...

at Harvard, Noel passed the

United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carr ...

exam and was hired by the Department of State. In 1951 he married fellow Foreign Service worker Lucille McHenry. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s Noel served with U.S. consulates in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

and Sudan. Noel was particularly fascinated with the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and regularly toured the region, learning the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

language.

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, George Curtis Moore, was asked to stay on as Deputy Chief of Mission until the new Deputy arrived in March. On the evening of March 1, 1973, militants from the Black September faction of

PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and st ...

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 Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

diplomat Guy Eid. After a joint funeral on March 7 at the

National Presbyterian Church The National Presbyterian Church is a Christian congregation of approximately 1,500 members of all ages from the greater metropolitan Washington, D.C., area. The mission statement of the church is "Leading People to Become Faithful Followers of J ...

in Washington D.C., Cleo Noel Jr. and Curtis Moore were buried with military honors at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

References

*Korn, David A., ''Assassination in Khartoum'', Indiana University Press, 1993

External links

U.S. Department of State, Office of the HistorianU.S. Department of State, Declassified Memorandum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noel, Cleo A. Jr. 1918 births 1973 deaths 1973 murders in Africa 20th-century American naval officers Ambassadors of the United States to Sudan American terrorism victims American people murdered abroad Kidnapped diplomats Assassinated American diplomats University of Missouri alumni Harvard University alumni University of Missouri faculty Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Kidnapped American people Terrorism deaths in Sudan People murdered in Sudan Deaths by firearm in Sudan Victims of the Black September Organization People from Oklahoma City People from Moberly, Missouri United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Foreign Service personnel