Posted by XXXXXX on May 2, 2008:

Charles A. Borg ’48 No. 16475 4 Dec 1926 – 4 Jan 2004 Died in La Jolla, CA Interred in West Point Post Cemetery, West Point, NY Charles Arthur Borg, known as “Buck,” grew up in Oyster Bay, NY, on Long Island. He was active in sports, an exceptional student, president of his senior class, and graduated in 1943 as valedictorian. He set his sights early on West Point but was too young to enter directly out of high school, so he attended MIT for a year. At West Point, he excelled in academics and military studies, graduating fourth in the class. He was an enthusiastic and successful member of the varsity swimming team, sang in the chapel choir, and served on the cadet honor committee. His leadership and abilities were recognized when he was appointed in his First Class year as a cadet captain and as the brigade training officer, responsible for preparing the plans and orders for parades, reviews, and other military functions. Buck was well liked by all cadets for his friendliness, competence, humor, and character. He chose the Corps of Engineers as his branch, and his first assignment was with an engineer aviation battalion on Okinawa in 1949. When the Korean War began in June 1950, he soon found himself serving there, helping build and improve U.N. airfields on the peninsula during the ups and downs of the first year of that war. After returning to the States and serving at the Engineer School for three years, Buck concluded that serving the nation as a diplomat would be more interesting and meaningful. He resigned from the Army in 1954, attended Georgetown University to get a bachelor’s degree in political science, and passed the difficult examination to enter the Foreign Service in 1955. That same year he married Sara “Sally” Cooper, and the couple began a happy and adventurous life together. Buck’s first posting was the U.S. Consulate in Hamburg, Germany. He became fluent in German, a linguistic talent that helped him in several assignments. After a tour back in the State Department’s executive secretariat, his next posting was in the political/military affairs section of the U.S. embassy in Tokyo. Then, during 1963–65, he served as an instructor in the political science department of the USAF Academy, where he helped the cadets understand the political complexities of the Cold War. In 1965 Buck was selected by Secretary of State Dean Rusk to be his special assistant, and he served in this capacity during the turbulent middle years of the Johnson administration and the early years of the war in Southeast Asia. A colleague, Ambassador Frank Maestrone, said, “Borg was one of our top people. He had one of the toughest assignments in the Foreign Service as special assistant to Rusk. He saw everything that went to the secretary and reviewed it. It was a tremendous responsibility.” In 1968 Buck completed the course at the National War College and obtained a master’s degree in international relations from George Washington University. Then he and Sally and their two children, Jim and Marion, were off to the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm, where mobs protesting against the Viet Nam War caused anxious moments. Buck’s restraint and coolness in the volatile political environment earned him accolades and recognition for what became known as the Borg tactic: a refusal to be overly concerned with the posturing of lesser powers. In 1971 he was moved to Berlin on short notice to be the deputy assistant chief of the U.S. mission there and to assist in negotiating the difficult Berlin Agreement with the Soviet Union, a task made to order for his knowledge and skills. He was successful in achieving U.S. objectives. In 1974 he was back in Washington as deputy chief of the state department secretariat and later as executive secretary. Then he was assigned in the late 1970s as deputy chief of mission in Vienna and in 1980 was posted to his final assignment as DCM in Finland, where he received the State Department’s Superior Honor Award. He retired from the Foreign Service in 1983 with the rank of career minister. After he and Sally retired to La Jolla, CA, Buck joined the University of San Diego faculty as an adjunct professor of international law and international relations. He quickly gained the highest respect from his colleagues and students for his unmatched knowledge, teaching skills, and character. Buck taught at USD until 2001. Throughout his career in the Foreign Service, Buck was well known and widely admired by his colleagues and his superiors as an extraordinarily fine officer and as a person of great character, competence, and sense of duty. “He was always cool in crises,” said one, “and he was involved in a lot of them.” As a seasoned veteran well versed in foreign policy issues, Buck mentored more than one politically appointed ambassador new to the rigors of international relations. In a typical comment, Ambassador Keith Nyborg, for whom Buck served as DCM on his last assignment in Finland, expressed his admiration for Buck’s outstanding competence and exceptional contributions in the arena of foreign policy. Buck was devoted to his family, and together the Borgs made a notable Foreign Service team. Buck died of heart failure. His wife Sally; his son Jim; daughter Marion; brother Donn; and two grandchildren survive him. He is mourned by family, friends, and colleagues. Buck served our nation magnificently and in the best traditions of West Point during a tense and turbulent time in our history. Well done, good and faithful friend. Be thou at peace. Arnold Braswell, a classmate

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