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Jim Foley should be an inspiration to all of us

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Armed only with a camera, he stood his ground. (Courtesy photo)

When a firefighter dies his brothers in arms across the country have a saying: “Rest easy, brother. We’ll take it from here.”

It is a bittersweet pledge that they will pick up the slack his death caused and will carry on in the effort to save lives.

War zone journalist Jim Foley was like a firefighter in his own way. He spent and lost his life trying to put out the fires of tyranny and oppression by shining a light on the atrocities and brazen disregard for life and social justice by others.

Whether it was the Shah of Iran or Idi Amin or Papa Doc, I think we all know Jim would have been there, tireless and fearless.

Jim knew all along throughout the years his was a terribly dangerous avocation. Just a few years ago he was kidnapped and held for 44 days during the war in Libya.

His mom and dad, John and Diane, said on Wednesday that the last time he was home they begged him not to go back.

Jim said no way. He had to go back. Wherever he saw suffering he had to go. Right now Syria and Iraq are suffering like nowhere else in the world, his parents said.

In Syria and Iraq ISIS extremists have carried out mass killings, rapes and other brutal attacks on helpless women and children. It was nothing for them to get a sick mind to end Jim’s life with a single swipe of a blade, on a video to be uploaded to youtube no less.

But if Jim had been rescued earlier this summer and returned safely to his parents and family, make no mistake about it. After a few weeks at home he would’ve been back in Syria or Iraq or somewhere dangerous, fueling his passion of helping the helpless and shining a light on tyranny and terror.

A firefighter wouldn’t retire after recovering from an injury encountered on the job, and neither would Jim.

As his father proudly said on Wednesday, Jim was fearless to the end.

Jim carried the ball this far, now it’s time for someone else to pick it up, his parents exhorted journalists on Wednesday.

They were talking to us who were there, but in a larger sense, to everyone: President Obama, the State Department, and Americans of every color, religion and political persuasion.

We’re like the firefighters left behind after a fallen comrade dies saving a baby from a burning building. Are we going to save the rest of the family who’s still in the smoldering ruins?

That is what we should all be thinking about. That is Jim’s legacy.

There's one other legacy that is so very fitting. The friends and family of Jim Foley have established a scholarship fund through Marquette University in his memory. The scholarship will provide financial assistance for a communications student who otherwise would be unable to attend Marquette. In addition, Jim's friends and family will provide a mentoring-type program to help build upon the convictions that drove Jim's passion: to provide a voice for people whose stories would otherwise go untold. You can donate at 
https://muconnect.marquette.edu/giving/foley-scholarship and share in his memory.

- HT

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