1/14/2009 - In Remembrance of C.B. "Chick" Squire

AFS suffered a great loss in the passing of Chick Squire, an AFS WWII ambulance driver and one of the founding members of the AFS Intercultural Programs on January 4, 2009 in Asheville, North Carolina. AFS lost a devoted member and supporter who fully embodied the meaning of volunteerism at AFS.

Chick Squire had a long career as an editor, author, correspondent and consultant. He served as editor of The Wilton (CT) Bulletin. He worked as a journalist in Lebanon in the early 1950s, and in 1952 was the founding editor of Lebanon’s leading English-language daily newspaper, The Daily Star, still published in Beirut. His career included jobs for national and international newspapers and oil industry publications, including The New York Times, McGraw-Hill Publications, The Chicago Tribune and London Illustrated. He had been an editorial consultant for the Mountain Xpress, an Asheville weekly. He was the author of Heroes of Conservation, (1973); co-author of Oil Industry U.S.A., (1977); and editor of The Liz Reader, (2002). Chick was active with a great number of civic, political, human rights and charitable organizations.

Chick was born in Caldwell, New Jersey on July 15, 1920. He attended Lincoln School of Teachers College, Columbia University, the University of Connecticut and New York University. Being an anti-fascist, Chick wanted to join the war effort in November of 1942 and he went for a pre-induction physical held at Grand Central Palace in New York. Chick recalled that he was rejected on the same day as Frank Sinatra, as they both had a hearing problem. He heard about AFS from his father who was a classmate of Arthur Howe, Jr.’s father at Carteret Academy in West Orange, New Jersey. Chick was 22 years old when he volunteered for AFS as an ambulance driver. At the time Chick was working for CBS and Newsweek magazine in New York.

Chick went overseas in January of 1943 with Unit Middle East 37. Other ambulance drivers in his Unit included Fred and Bob Balderston, Ward Chamberlin, Jr. and Forrest Williams. He arrived in Cairo in March of 1943. Chick’s unit was Section Six of “A” Platoon 567 Ambulance Company and he was attached to the British Eighth and Fourteenth Armies having served in the Syria, North Africa, Italy and India-Burma from 1943 until his repatriation in 1945. During his service in Italy, in February of 1944, Alexander “Alec” Randall, Chick’s friend and a fellow driver was killed in action near Lanciano. Stephen Galatti asked Chick to bring Alec’s effects to his family in Baltimore. In 1994, Chick co-authored The Saga of Section Six, (1994), based on his Section’s experiences during the Italian campaign.

Chick’s AFS involvement continued from the time he volunteered as an ambulance driver. When Chick came back from the war after his initial enlistment and service with Section Six he drove an AFS WWII ambulance around New York for public relations and spoke about his AFS experience on radio. He re-enlisted in AFS and did a second tour of duty with AFS leading Unit India-Burma 57 Unit in May of 1945. He came back in 1946. He was awarded various British and Allied armies campaign medals and ribbons.

Back home after the war, Chick served as AFS Regional Chairman in Wilton, Connecticut. Chick went to high school principals in Connecticut (some of whom were former G.I.’s) and persuaded them to accept the German students sponsored by AFS only a few years after the end of the World War II. He also helped find host families for the students. In the mid 1980’s Chick was instrumental in helping secure veterans’ benefits for AFS WWII volunteers who served with the Allied Forces and contributed to AFS Veterans’ Application , (1991). The effort benefited all AFS Drivers as they didn’t have U.S. veterans’ benefits before that time.

Chick was first and foremost a volunteer and AFS has benefited from his efforts that spanned six decades. His dedication and contributions had a big impact on the development of AFS programs. He was a Member of the Archives Advisory Committee for many years. Chick has been a great supporter of the Archives activities and was a narrator of the AFS history DVD “Many Voices, One Story” (2004). Chick was an active participant at AFS volunteer events and World Congresses and inspired many volunteers, participants and staff around the world. He enjoyed meeting AFS participants wherever he went. He participated in the AFS Drivers Reunions and Drivers Trips to England, Italy and Germany as well as the celebrations of the AFS 50th and 60th anniversaries.

He was honored by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Oscar Arias of Costa Rica in 1999, when he received the Oscar Arias Foundation Peace Award at the AFS World Congress in San Jose.

Chick Squire and Oscar Arias, Costa Rica, September 1999

His AFS legacy will endure. We will remember him for his commitments to our organization, in his own words,

”It is more important than ever for groups like AFS to recommit ourselves to the causes of peace, harmony and tolerance.”
- Chick Squire, speech to AFS volunteers in Dominican Republic, 2003