Gary furlong - former consul general uzbekistan

 2014 June 14 Interview by Carolyn Jacobs, host of JacobsLadderShow.com, and Gary Furlong, former Consul general for The Republic of Uzbekistan – western United States. Gary worked out of Seattle and Las Vegas for his Consul duties. In 1988 Gary spearheaded a humanitarian mission to aid victims of the Dec 7th Armenia earthquake. One week later, Gary and his rescue team of volunteers were on the scene. Solely on the word of Bob Walsh, Soviets granted permission without visas to land in Yerevan. Since this was in the Cold War era, Gary had to problem solve issues to protect the team and their work. Once the mission was over, there was difficulty getting the workers back to the US. Eventually, Gary, assisted by a Miami mobster, coordinated a private plane trip for the whole team. Originally, the volunteers had been scheduled to return to the US via the plane that blew up over Lockerbie Scotland. Amazing turn of events.

This story is featured in the book about Seattle businessman Bob Walsh, president of the Seattle Organizing Committee SOC. Who the Hell is Bob, The Man Behind the Magic, by Steve Rudman, released 9-26-2001. Bob had connections to Soviet gov officials, who gave permission for the American, Gary Furlong, to come to Soviet Armenia with his team of volunteers.   See photos below.