U.S. ambassadors killed in the line of duty

U.S. Ambassador to Libya John Christopher Stevens is the eighth American ambassador to die in the line of duty since 1950. Here are the others.

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John Christopher Stevens, in Libya -- Sept. 11, 2012

Stevens was a career diplomat and Arabic speaker known for his smile and determination. He and three other Americans were slain in an attack upon the U.S. Consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.

Ben Curtis / AP

Laurence A. Steinhardt, in Canada, March 28, 1950

Steinhardt was on his way back to Washington when his plane crashed in Ontario. He was a former ambassador to the Soviet Union, Turkey, Peru, Czechoslovakia and Canada.

AP / AP

John Gordon Mein, in Guatemala -- Aug. 28, 1968

Mein was ordered out of his limousine and gunned down in Guatemala City by guerrillas.

File photo

Cleo A. Noel Jr., in Sudan -- March 1, 1973

Noel was killed in an attack by guerrillas from the militant group Black September in the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Sudan.

File photo

Francis E. Meloy Jr.,. in Lebanon -- June 16, 1976

Meloy, his economic adviser and their driver were kidnapped by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and shot to death. The killers were acquitted in 1996 on the grounds that their cases fell within the scope of a 1991 amnesty law that covers crimes committed during wartime.

File photo

Rodger P. Davies, in Cyprus -- Aug. 19, 1974

Davies was shot during a protest against the embassy following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

File photo

Adolph Dubs, in Afghanistan -- Feb. 14, 1979

Dubs was kidnapped by armed militants and held in the Kabul Hotel. They demanded the release of Badruddin Bahes, an imprisoned leader of their party. After an exchange of gunfire between Afghan police and the kidnappers, a U.S. Embassy medical team found Dubs seated in a chair with several bullet wounds in his head and chest.

File photo

Arnold L. Raphel, in Pakistan, Aug. 17, 1988

Raphel was killed in a plane crash in Bahawalpur. Also aboard were Pakistani President Zia ul-Haq and U.S. Brig. Gen. Herbert M. Wassom. Raphel was fluent in Urdu, French and Persian.

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