Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012 | 2:01 a.m.
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“How do these things happen?” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in her announcement that Ambassador Chris Stevens had been killed by terrorists in the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
I think this happens when a person puts his own safety second to the cause he is fighting for, a cause he believes in. Author George Orwell did it by going to fight for the Republic in the Spanish Civil War. He escaped, just barely, with a bullet wound. Stevens couldn’t escape the relentless barrage aimed at his consulate.
He lived a life of purpose, not settling for a life in an air-conditioned office in Washington writing memos. He served in the Peace Corps in Morocco and in the Foreign Service in many Middle East postings. He was fluent in Arabic and could mingle with the people. He wasn’t into palace intrigues and big power posturing; he was a soldier for democracy.
I’m especially grateful to his father, Jan, for introducing me to my wife, Peggy. I have pictures of Chris Stevens and our son Tony when they were 3 years old, along with our daughter Alison, who was just an infant. Chris was a classmate of Alison’s at UC Berkeley.
Through the years, we saw him grow and mature to be intelligent without being pedantic, handsome without being vain, and dedicated without being arrogant. Now he belongs to the shared history of our country. As Secretary Clinton reminded us: “We need more Chris Stevens.”
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