Lyons Creek Campus Monitor Thomas Guiliani talks to KEvin Mitchell, one of his many student "Microcops."  Microcops serve as additional eyes and ears on the campus

For a little more than two years, Thomas Giuliani has served as a campus monitor at Lyons Creek Middle School in Coconut Creek where he's one of four staff members charged with keeping students and staff members safe. A former career working for the U.S. State Department in the Dignitary Protective Unit makes him uniquely qualified - and then some - for his current duties.

A soft-spoken, respectful and unassuming man, Mr. Giuliani spent 31 years working for the State Department at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. "When I came out of the military I took tests to work for some local law enforcement agencies as well as a U.S. State Department employment test," explained Mr. Giuliani. "I decided to join the State Department, where I started out as an officer and worked my way up through the ranks to lieutenant."

Mr. Giuliani worked primarily in the city but sometimes traveled to Washington, D.C. or a variety of international locations depending upon the needs of the individuals he was assigned to protect. "While dignitaries were within the six square block jurisdiction of the United Nations, our unit was entirely responsible for their welfare," said Mr. Giuliani, who often worked in conjunction with respective Secret Service and New York City Police Department details.

And speaking of those individuals, the list reads like a virtual "Who's Who?" of heads of state. Having begun his career there in 1961, Mr. Giuliani had the opportunity to protect everyone from President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy to President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan. "My most memorable experience working for the State Department was protecting President Kennedy on a visit he made to the United Nations two months prior to his assassination," said Mr. Giuliani. "I'll never forget shaking his hand and always regret that I didn't have a chance to have the photo I had taken of us together autographed."

During his State Department tenure Mr. Giuliani also helped protect Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II: "I distinctly remember kissing his ring and shaking his hand," recalled Mr. Giuliani of the recently deceased pontiff. He also guarded Yasser Arafat, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia of Spain, Golda Meir, Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair of Great Britain. "Just about any king, queen, prime minister, foreign minister, president or head of state you can name, we served," Mr. Giuliani added. One of his greatest challenges took place in 1985 when the United Nations celebrated its 40th anniversary and 137 heads of state visited at the same time.

When he retired from the State Department in 1992 after 31+ years of service, Mr. Giuliani tried to retire but just couldn't stay home. He worked for prestigious Tiffany & Co. for a number of years where once again, he was assigned to protect the store's high-profile clientele - including Billy Joel, Joe Frazier, Michael J. Fox and Bill Murray, just to name a few!