TAPS: Herbert G. Hagerty

07 December 2017. LCDR Herbert G. Hagerty, USNR and Foreign Service officer who survived the attack on the US embassy in Karachi, Pakistan. He was 85, and a resident of Washington, D.C.,

Born in 1932, Herb grew up in East Orange, N.J. He was awarded an A.B. in history and government by Columbia College in 1954, and an M.A. in South Asia regional studies by the University of Pennsylvania in 1956. He was also a "Distinguished Graduate" of the National War College in 1976.

Herb dedicated his working life to public service. He was a U.S. Navy briefing officer from 1957 to 1961, and retired from the U.S. Navy Reserve with the rank of lieutenant commander in 1971. From 1961 to 1965, he was an intelligence analyst. Herb joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1965, and served as a political officer in India, Norway, London, and Pakistan. In 1979, as thousands of protesters sacked and burned the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Herb and 137 other employees endured most of a day in the "vault," a secure space in the burning embassy, as smoke and flames threatened to consume them all.

Four people died in the attack. For courageous performance of his duties that day, Herb earned a Group Award for Valor. In 1981, he earned a Superior Honor Award for "sustained high performance" during the period following the embassy attack. In his last overseas assignment, Herb served as the deputy chief of mission in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He retired in 1990 with the rank of minister-counselor in the Senior Foreign Service. In subsequent part-time work, he taught professional writing at the Foreign Service Institute, and consulted with government agencies on subjects ranging from narcotics to politico-military simulations to declassification of Cold War documents.

Herb was predeceased by his wife, Ann L. Hagerty; parents, Herbert Jacobus Hagerty and Mary Margaret Hagerty, and brother, Dennis J. Hagerty. He is survived by his sons from a previous marriage, Sean D. Hagerty and Devin T. Hagerty; granddaughter, Vivian G. Hagerty; brother, Richard W. Hagerty; niece, Noreen A. Hagerty-Ford; nephew, Dennis T. Hagerty; stepdaughters, Jill Satin, Katy Satin, and Marta Satin-Smith, and all of their families. Herb was deeply beloved and will be dearly missed. A memorial celebration will be held at a later date.