Sunday, October 9, 2022

James Foley Memorial

James Foley (1973-2014) was an American Journalist and Freelance War Correspondent.


Born in Evanston, Illinois, the oldest of five Children born to Diane and John Foley of Rochester, New Hampshire. He grew up in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, where he attended Kingswood Regional High School. He was raised as a Catholic. In 1996, he graduated from Marquette University, earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Spanish,  followed by a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2002, and a Master of Arts from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism in 2008.

Before being a Journalist he was an Instructor for Teach For America in Arizona.

In 2008, he became an embedded Journalist with USAID-funded development projects in Iraq, and in 2011 he wrote for the Military newspaper Stars and Stripes in Afghanistan, and GlobalPost in Libya. There, he was captured by Gaddafi Loyalist Forces and held for 44 days.

In November 2012 Foley was captured in Syria by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). while he was working for Agence France-Presse and GlobalPost.

In August 2014 Foley was beheaded by ISIS who uploaded his death on YouTube. The ISIS Militant in the video was known as Jihadi John a Kuwait-born, British Terrorist (born Muhammad Jassim Abdulkarim Olayan al-Dhafir) whowas part of a 4 Person Terrorist Cell called “The Beatles”  - because of their British Accents. He was killed by a US Drone Strike in Syria in November 2015.


In 2014, Foley's Family started the James W. Foley Legacy Fund to work in three areas: "building a resource center for families of American hostages and fostering a global dialog on governmental policies in hostage crises; supporting American journalists reporting from conflict zones and promoting quality educational opportunities for urban youth.

In 2016, the Documentary film Jim: “The James Foley Story” was released.

On October 9, 2022 a Memorial to James was unveiled by his Parents at his Hometown Church in Alton, NH.

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