Profiles of the three Americans killed in Bosnia on Saturday:
- Robert Frasure was the chief U.S. negotiator working to end the fighting in the former Yugoslavia.Born in Morgantown, W.Va., Frasure was a 21-year foreign service officer who had been posted to Switzerland, Germany, Britain, Nigeria, Ethiopia and, most recently, Estonia, where he was the U.S. ambassador before his assignment in the Balkans.
Secretary of State Warren Christopher said he was "shocked and saddened by the tragic death of my colleague and friend" and credited Frasure with a "critical role in shaping a diplomatic solution to the Balkan conflict."
Frasure, 53, studied at West Virginia University and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa before attending the London School of Economics. He received his doctorate from Duke University and taught there and at the University of the South.
He is survived by his wife, Katharina Whitting, and two daughters.
- Samuel Nelson Drew, an Air Force colonel and National Security Council aide, was remembered as a talented officer and a strategic thinker. Drew joined the NSC in recent months after a career as a professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy and National War College. He also served as a soldier-diplomat at the U.S. mission to NATO.
Anthony Lake, President Clinton's national security adviser, said Drew's ideas played a major role in forming the new U.S. diplomatic initiative to end the fighting in the Balkans. "Nelson was an excellent military officer, a strategic thinker and an extraordinary human being," Lake said. "He brought great wisdom and energy to his work on the NSC staff, as well as passionate commitment to the nation's interest."
He is survived by his wife, Sandy, and two children.
- Joseph Kruzel, the deputy assistant secretary of defense, was one of Defense Secretary William Perry's top advisers on European security affairs.
Perry also called him a friend. In a statement, Perry said Kruzel "served the (Defense) Department and this nation tirelessly and with great dedication and distinction. He will be missed greatly by all of us who knew and admired him."
Kruzel, 50, was a member of the U.S. delegation that visited London, Bonn, Paris, Madrid and Sochi, Russia last week to push the U.S. peace initiative for the former Yugoslavia.
He became a deputy assistant secretary in 1993 and earlier had been a special assistant to Defense Secretary Harold Brown during the Carter administration and a legislative assistant to Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
After graduating from the Air Force Academy in 1967, Kruzel served as a U.S. intelligence officer in Vietnam.
Kruzel held two graduate degrees from Harvard University and taught at Harvard, Duke University and Ohio State University.
Kruzel is survived by his wife, Gail, and two children.