Hiram Bingham IV

Diane Church of the Regional Standard writes, "In the early 1940s, Hiram Bingham IV saved over 2,000 refugees from almost certain imprisonment in Nazi concentration camps. Far from honoring him, however, the government demoted him and destroyed his career in foreign relations."

Bingham (shown above) was one of six U.S. diplomats honored as part of the Distinguished American Diplomats sheetlet which was released on May 20 at Washington 2006.

Church points out in her article, "...when Bingham's supervisors discovered what he was doing, they quickly put an end to it and sent him to Lisbon, Portugal, then to Argentina, crushing his dream of becoming U.S. Ambassador to France."

Bingham passed away in 1988 at the age of 84.

To read the entire piece, click here.

To visit the Hiram Bingham IV website with additional photos of the first day ceremony and background information, click here.