On the day my son was killed I felt almost more rage against our government than I did against his killers. The government has claimed that it did all it could to bring Jim home but I refused to accept what I saw as its inaction. We were told by a member of the National Security Council that we might face federal prosecution if we tried to raise the ransom to pay for Jim's freedom.
In recent weeks, President Biden has been rightly hailed for the prisoner exchange that brought home the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, the former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, and other detainees. For the remainder of his term, President Biden has vowed that he will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family.
Jim's experience showed that only negotiation can surely bring back hostages. I have tried to carry the message of his life out into the world. Over time, politicians and the public began to hear it. Even his killer eventually heard it.
It is a message that I believe is one that we all must continue to listen to: To be moral, we must have courage, and we must speak out about our loved ones. In the decade since losing Jim, I learned that properly directed grief enables hope and change.
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