Background
Bessac was born on January 13, 1922, in Lodi, California and earned his undergraduate degree at the University of the Pacific, where he majored in history.
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Frank Bagnall Bessac
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Bachelor in History, College Pacific, 1946; postgraduate, Fujen U., China, 1947-1948; Master of Arts in Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, 1957; Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, 1963.
Career
During the years toward the end of and immediately following World World War II, Besaac served with the Office of Strategic Services (Office of Strategic Services) in Western China and Mongolia, and while escaping from Communist Chinese forces in 1950 on their way to Tibet, Bessac was part of a group mistakenly attacked by Tibetan forces in which Central Intelligence Agency spy Douglas Mackiernan was killed, making him the Central Intelligence Agency"s first agent killed in action. He enlisted in the United States Army during World World War World War II After studying Chinese language at Cornell University, Bessac was sent by the O.S.S. to China, where he served until 1947. He studied language at Fujen University in present-day Beijing after completing service with the O.S.S and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship.
The Central Intelligence Agency hired him when it was formed in 1947, but Bessac left after realizing that the covert role the agency wanted him to fill would prevent him from further pursuing his studies of Mongolia.
In the Gobi Desert studying anthropology in Inner Mongolia, Bessac was forced to flee in the wake of advancing Chinese Communist forces and decided to escape to Tibet by taking a journey of 2,000 miles (3,200 km) to Tihwa (now known as Ürümqi) and from there through Tibet and across the Himalayas to India. Bessac died at the age of 88 on December 6, 2010, in Missoula, Montana, due to a stroke.
Achievements
Politics
Among the dead was Central Intelligence Agency agent Douglas Mackiernan, who had been sent to monitor actions by the Soviet Union in the area around the border between China and the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, near the location where the Soviets had conducted their initial nuclear bomb test in August 1949.
Membership
While approaching Tibet, Bessac"s group was mistakenly attacked by a group of Tibetan border guards, who shot and killed three members of his group before Bessac ran towards the soldiers while carrying a white flag. The Tibetan troops who had been involved in the attack that led to Mackiernan"s death were convicted by a military court in Lhasa and sentenced to mutilation, with the leader of the group "to have his nose and both ears cut off", though after Bessac intervened for leniency, the punishment was changed so that the leader received 200 lashes and the other members of the patrol were also lashed.
Interests
Connections
Married Susanne Leppmann, September 9, 1951. Children: Barbara Tracey, Andrea Maxeiner, Turan Albini, Joan Steelquist, Bret.
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Born
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Died
December 6, 2010 (aged 88) -
Nationality
American
Education
Awards
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Recipient Research award Agricultural Development Council, 1964-1965. Fulbright Student scholar, 1949-1950, Ford grantee, 1955-1956, Special Research grantee National Institute of Mental Health, 1968-1969.Recipient Research award Agricultural Development Council, 1964-1965. Fulbright Student scholar, 1949-1950, Ford grantee, 1955-1956, Special Research grantee National Institute of Mental Health, 1968-1969.