The Foreign Service Journal, July/August 2018

50 JULY-AUGUST 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL building, at which point the ambassador was awake, I shielded her and ran over to the embassy where the Marines were. I screamed to the Marine, “I have the ambassador here. We need to get inside.” He instructed me to get into a car that was waiting to evacuate us from the site, but I wanted to get into the embassy. Jenny, my wife, was supposed to meet me in my office after my meeting to go to the commissary and for lunch. I was scared and desperate. The Marine made it very clear that no one was getting into the embassy, so I took the ambassador to the car. Once we were in the car and we began to move away from the embassy, I asked the driver where he was taking us, and he said to a temporary location. I needed to know if Jenny was okay. I instructed the driver to take us to my hotel. As we walked into the hotel, I asked the front desk to send the hotel doctor to our room as soon as possible. As we exited the elevator, Jenny was running down the hall- way. I could not have been happier. However, as I said before, I was on autopilot. I handed the ambassador to Jenny and asked if she could help her clean up and prep her to make comments to the media. If the attack was on the American embassy, we needed to show whoever did this that they did not hurt the United States. Jenny did just that. The bombing has had a lasting impact on my life. I have had to continuously manage my PTSD. Yet it has also given me a drive that I am not sure I would have if I had not been through the experience—the drive to be a better person, to be grateful for the chance to be alive and to never be a victim. The support from my wife and my family has been at the core of being able to create a normal life. I see the success of my life being realized through the success of my family and friends. My advice? Focus on the fact that you are here and you are loved, and don’t allow “survivor’s guilt” to rob you of your hap- piness. You represent the greatest country in human history, so be proud of who we are as Americans, no matter who is in the White House. American values and the American spirit are everlasting and transcend generations.