E. Allen Lightner

Edwin Allan Lightner (December 7, 1907 - September 15, 1990) was a US embassy official and employee of the United States Department of State. He served as Ambassador to Libya from 1963 to 1965. In 1961 while serving as assistant chief of the U.S. Mission in Berlin, Lightner was detained twice by East German border guards in October 1961 when he crossed into East Berlin to underscore the United States' determination to have unrestricted access to all occupation zones in Berlin. He also participated in the Berlin exchange of Francis Gary Powers, the American U-2 pilot shot down during a reconnaissance flight over the Soviet Union in 1960.

Portrait of E. Allan Lightner (1907-1990)

Early life

Lightner was born on December 7, 1907, in New York City, New York and graduated from Princeton University in 1930.

Working for the State Department

In 1930, Lightner joined the United States Department of State. He was primarily active overseas, visiting a total of 18 countries in Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia until his retirement in 1970. He became Assistant Director for the Central European Division from 1945 to 1947; Deputy Director of the Central European Division from 1947 to 1948; Deputy Political Director for the High Commission in Frankfurt from 1949 to 1951. He then became charge d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in South Korea (March 1, 1951 to February 1953), Consul General in Munich from 1953 to 1956, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs from May 14, 1956 to June 1959. Lightner also became assistant chief of the U.S. Mission in West Berlin from 1960 to May 1963. While stationed in Berlin, he witnessed the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961. Lightner had unrestricted access to all occupied areas within the city and occasionally entered East Berlin at the direction of the American government. Lightner was detained twice by East German border guards in October 1961.

In February 1962, he was present at the prisoner exchange at the Glienicke Bridge between American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers, who had been captured by KGB, and Rudolf Abel, a Soviet intelligence officer who had been captured by the FBI. After the incident, Lightner became an Ambassador to Libya from May 27, 1963 to June 30, 1965. He assisted in negotiations between the United States and the Libyan government regarding the Wheelus Air Base in Tripoli, which asked what they could use for their base.

Later years

Lightner served as vice provost for international affairs at the National Defense University from 1967 to 1970. He died of congestive heart failure on, September 15, 1990, at his home in Hancock County, Maine at the age of 82 and was buried in Section 2 of Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C..