June 2021 Veteran of the Month
TV VFW Post 12135 Veteran of the Month-June 2021
Jim Knight, former US Army first lieutenant, retired U.S. Ambassador and current life member of our VFW post is the June Veteran of the Month.
Jim grew up in Fayette, Alabama, and moved often as his father was a career soldier, ending his service as a Sergeant Major who was awarded the Distinguish Service Medal in Korea.
Knight entered Wichita State University, studied Psychology, and graduated with a BS and, as a member of the ROTC, he was also commissioned a U.S. Army 2/LT. His active duty began in 1970 at Ft Benning, GA for entry level training and assignment as a platoon leader, 1/29th IN. His next assignment in 1971 was to Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Div. (Airmobile) as a platoon leader in the 2/506th Inf and later Executive Officer, 360th Transportation Company. For his Vietnam service, he was awarded the Bronze Star. Jim’s next and last military assignment was to Germany as the Executive Officer, HHC, 7th Corps.
Following his military service, Jim entered the University of Chicago and received a PhD in Anthropology. This is also where he met his future wife, Amelia, a fellow PhD student.
Following college, Jim entered the foreign service. His initial overseas assignment was to Lagos, Niger where he served as the General Services Officer. This was followed by an assignment to Banjul, The Gambia and later, as the Political Officer in Madagascar. Returning to Washington, he was the Country Affairs Officer for Ethiopia in the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs.
Back overseas, Jim went to Cabo Verde where he was Deputy Chief of Mission and later Deputy of Mission for the U.S. Mission to Angola. His next assignment was to the war zone in Mosul, Iraq where he served as the team leader of the Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team. Jim returned to Washington to be the Director of the Office of East African Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs.
Jim served as the Ambassador to Benin and Assistant Chief of Mission for the U.S. Embassy Baghdad. For his last foreign service assignment, the President appointed Jim to be the U.S. Ambassador to Chad. Jim retired from the foreign service in 2016. During his Foreign Service career, he received the Secretary’s Career Achievement Award, multiple Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards and Senior Foreign Service Performance Awards and the Expeditionary Service award.
Chad was no place for an ambassador’s wife, so in 2014, Dr. Amelia Bell Knight, Jim’s wife, found Tellico Village and began designing and overseeing the construction of their beautiful new home. Jim joined Amelia there in 2016. Together they have 3 children residing in Arizona, Iowa and Illinois.
Our thanks to AWE for a $25 gift card to Jim for being our Veteran of the Month.
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