Remembering Ambassador Christopher Stevens

The family of the slain American Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens has just launched an impressive online platform to memorialize the late ambassador and help raise funds “to support activities that build bridges between the people of the United States and the Middle East.”

The site is filled with touching tributes by people who knew Ambassador Stevens as a colleague and friend. But perhaps the most moving tributes are from those whom he never met, but whose lives he has touched.

Consider this:

Dear Family of the amazing Chris,

I very much hope there is a way this gets to the family of Chris Stevens. I have been looking for away to send my condolences, I’m sure they are receiving many, after all Chris was a well known well loved man. But from the bottom of my heart i hope this arrives to his family.

My name is Hassan Morajea, I am 18 and a British Libyan from the City of Benghazi,Libya.

I know you might not want to read this coming from a Libyan, I mean why would you?

But I really hope you can find it in your hearts to give us a chance to show you how we really feel. at a time we know you must be in deep distress.

Firstly I would like to express my deepest condolences for the lose of such a great person. Chris was the type of person you wanted to meet, and i personally would have loved to have the honer of meeting him, but unfortunaley that never happened, I worked as a translator for the foreign media and organisations who came to Libya both During and after the war So i knew who was helping who was doing what, and Chris’s name came across my path many times, and I saw how much work he was doing here and it was great, i felt the world was behind us they were backing us and all was going to be ok.

When I woke up the morning after the attack, and heard the news i was devastated, i would do anything to change what happened. the lose of Chris Stevens along with his 3 colleagues was something that broke many hearts in Libya, we saw Chris as a man who believed in us, the type of person we needed in our community. all I really want to express is how sorry i am for what these IDIOTS did, I know Chris worked very hard not only for his country but to help us here in Libya, from the beginning of the war The USA had a strong stand with us and without them we all would not be where we are,and a lot of this is thanks to Chris. The first time I saw Chris was briefly in one of the Tripoli Hotels and i thought what a great man, i wanted to go over and say hello but he was busy and i did not want to interfere with his work, I know in Tripoli where i live, the people love him, and miss him, they miss the times he strolled down the streets of the city, we all felt for once we have a diplomat who was one of us, a normal person, he ate where we ate he went to normal small local cafés. and people here loved that. In the city of Benghazi there has always been love for the USA, the people there feel the USA saved their lives. and that is true they did, if it wasn’t for the USA, France and UK’s intervention so many lives would have been lost.

What happened has no justification and i assure you we will fight as we once did before but this time to find Justice for all who died in our country among them Chris Stevens.

I am so very sorry for your lose, and I’m not just saying it, I mean it, IF there is anything the People of Libya can do to help you in anyway, please do not hesitate to ask.

It’s not something sorry can fix but we truly are so sorry, i’m sorry we could not do more to keep Chris safe.

I strongly encourage people to spend some time on the site.  You get a sense of just how skilled and beloved Ambassador Stevens was. You can contribute to his memorial fund here.  He will be sorely missed.