Jim: The James Foley Story (2016) - full transcript

I was in my office at work and I got a call,
from an international number. I always an

through the last three years, when it was
an international call, I would answer it.

And... it was a reporter in Dublin, um...
wanted a reaction for the story.

I said, "Reaction for what?"

And then they were really caught
back by that question obviously,

and they said "Uh, I'll call you back in five
minutes". And so then I went online and...

saw the picture.

It's not the way you want to find out.

I never, ever imagined that... that it
would end in that fashion, right?

For days, that first week, I just would
constantly see that image and...

[Sighs] It's been, uh... it's been tough.



You go through those emotional swings and,
you know, why the hell did you go back,

you know that second time? And then...

But I keep coming back to the same answer.

Name the sports newspaper that
hit US newsstands in 1990.

- [Buzzer Buzzing]
- James.

- The National.
- It was.

[Camera Clicking]

MAN: Ladies and gentlemen, please
help me welcome, Mr. James Foley.

[Audience Applauding]

Thanks for that generous... overly
generous, uh... introduction.

And I'm definitely not a hero or
noble or anything. I'm just, uh...

Trying to do my work and... uh...
got into a little bit of trouble.

[Chanting]

I arrived in Benghazi in mid
March, and the night I arrived,



- I heard nothing but bombs and gunfire.
- [Bombs Exploding]

I wondered, "What's going
on?" Another journalist said,

"The bombs, that's gelatina,
that's how they fish."

Blow the fish up. "And, uh... the gunfire,
no, that's celebratory gunfire."

[Rapid Gunfire]

If Gadhafi comes to Benghazi,
are you guys prepared to fight?

DIANE: I think in some ways,
Libya was a turning point for Jim.

You know, I was starting to see his

trying to figure out where
he belonged in the world.

You know he tried the
Teach for America, and...

then in Chicago, he worked
at the Cook County Jail.

He anguished over his teaching. He didn't
think he was a good enough teacher.

And he wanted to write and he
loved people and liked to interact,

tell people stories. So when Jim decided he
wanted to go into journalism from teaching,

at first we thought, "That would be good,
maybe that'll be a better fit, Jim."

But when he decided to do
conflict journalism, uh...

[Sighs] you know, that was
a whole different deal.

Well, he didn't exactly tell us. [Chuckles]

He um... graduated from Medill, and we
said "Jim, well, what're you gonna do?"

And he said, "Well, I'm... I'm working on it."

So the next thing we knew, he was gonna go to
Iraq embedded with the Indiana National Guard.

Well, I guess I'm a conflict journalist at
this point, so that's how we found out.

[Guns Firing]

JIM: It's an all out sprint, an exhilarating
and dangerous run for cover.

Got 'em.

When Jim started the journalism path, we
did have some heated discussions on...

views and... and the military and what not.

My views are a little bit more conservative...
[Chuckles] than Jim's.

I would say a little bit more liberal.

But when he did his embed, I think,
is where we came closer together.

JIM: As soon as the shooting died down, the
platoon discovered a body limp on the roof.

- Do they know who the guy is?
- Yes. These are the family members.

- JIM: These are the family?
- Yeah.

JOHN JR.: And he came back to my
house and he told me... he was like,

"Hey, John, I'm thinking about going to Libya."

I'm like, "Jim, that's a horrible idea.
That is absolutely a horrible idea.

If you go over there... no one's coming for you.

Why would you put your life in danger?
We're dropping bombs over there.

And God forbid if you go over there
and we accidentally kill you.

I mean, why? Wh... why?

[Chanting]

JIM: Libya was very exciting as a journalist
because you had this chance to talk directly

to the people, to see exactly what was going on.

[Chanting Indistinctly]

There was no U.S. soldiers anymore,
no organized army anymore,

telling you what you should and shouldn't do.

But it was also, uh... extremely dangerous.

I was actually talking to one of my buddies,
Bostey about my brother Jim, and how,

you know, he's this journalist
and is like super crazy,

but like badass at the same time,
you know? I was like, yeah,

my brother's a badass, you know?
He's crazy, he's awesome.

I also was very naive myself. I didn't
know exactly what that would mean.

I didn't know he was actually gonna be
immersed in actual, like, crossfire.

There's snipers in this building
about one kilometer away.

Tank. The groups decided to go in.

Little bit of heavy fighting. Heavy casualties,
about 30 wounded, two dead out of the 40.

There's one video that always stands out to
me. It's like when he's standing in the square.

There does seem to be a strong sense
that they won't give up the fight

and that there are a force
of young fighting men,

although unorganized, there's
plenty of will to hold out here.

How does my guy know this stuff?
Like, how does Jim Foley, like...

He's just my meathead friend, you know?

A... a... and it was so foreign to
me in terms of an experience.

I'm like, well, how do you get into Libya?

Oh, you're a freelancer, like who
wants this? Are you getting paid?

This is Jim Foley reporting from downtown
Benghazi, Revolutionary Square, Global Post.

Jim was there at the early stage of this
movement of there being more freelancers

in conflict areas.

The world has changed so much
in terms of digital publishing

and newspapers started to eliminate
things that they didn't see as essential.

International coverage dwindled
down to very little.

So we saw an opportunity to fill that void
and we needed to work with freelancers.

Freelancers decide to work together just on
the basis of this, initial quick read chemistry.

I saw this new guy who I hadn't met before.
He looked friendly enough, so I said,

"Hey, what's up?" He said, "Oh, not
much, going to the front line".

And he'd heard a lot about Libya and
the fact that it was very cheap to work.

Rebels and protesters were eager
to show us their side of the story.

You know, they were driving us all over for
free. They were translating for us for free.

M... many of us never really experienced the
luxury of, um... journalism in its heyday.

What we do is journalism
on a shoestring budget.

So we've had to be a lot more resourceful
in a way and just more street savvy.

I think in a sense, the way we all got to know
each other was the Africa hotel in Benghazi.

It was the cheapest hotel and the
crappiest and we were all staying there.

I'd seen Jim talking to, you
know, a few other journalists

and, um... he was just really
friendly with everybody.

It was unusual in a place like that. You know,
there's still an edge of competitiveness

in that environment, whereas Jim
was just like, "Yeah, whatever".

He gave off a really good first
impression and, you know,

it helps that he's like a super good-looking
guy, and I was just like, "Who is this guy?

Who are you?"

Just that jaw man, like, just fucking
cut cheese with that thing.

There wasn't anything mundane
about the man whatsoever.

He never really like, projected himself onto
a situation and he dealt well with people.

JIM: Who are the Libyan rebels determined
to overthrow 42 years of dictatorship?

JIM: Off-shore welding?

- Platform, yeah.
- Okay, dangerous job.

They're brave as individuals, but many show
a dangerous lack of weapons training.

CLARE: There were so many
freelancers who came in

at that point in time who were so new,

Jim and I among them, and I found out
only later that there were a number

of much more experienced photo-journalists
who'd made one or two trips to the front line

and said "Fuck it, this is way too dangerous".

Jim had a high tolerance for danger.

JIM: Shit!

I mean, sure, he was drawn
to that. All of us are in a way.

He was cool as a cucumber as well.
Hey, like wearing this little like,

tiny vest that he used to wear.

CLARE: The fact that he stayed so calm made
it easy to feel calm in that situation, but,

of course, sometimes, I was just like, "Well,
that's crazy, I'm not going there with you".

JIM: I would come back to Benghazi
and there was stuff going on there.

There was families and they
were out there in the protest,

and they were out there maybe
handling medical supplies,

which is probably more important to what
this revolutionary movement was...

but then being called out to that front
line again like some kind of siren song.

It was one of those mornings where we
decided we were gonna get out there early.

We wanted to get a fresh
look at the front lines.

It was myself, Clare Gillis, Manu
Brabo and Anton Hammerl,

a South African photo-journalist.

- Meet my new friend. Anton.
- Anton.

And what it was really was just a highway,
a coastal highway going all across Libya,

and this is where the battle was going on.

So it was kind of like a Mad Max type war.

Now this was something common
that some reporters did.

Freelancers like myself didn't have big
budgets, we'd jump in with the rebels.

And it was at your own risk if
you wanted to go further or not.

We got to the points where we
saw another group of rebels

saying Gadhafi forces are 300 meters away.

And myself looking at Clare,
like, that's impossible.

And I remember, you know, Anton turning
to me and saying "Hey, this isn't safe".

But we didn't turn around, and we said,
"Well, let's get off the road anyways".

Well, that was the exact wrong thing to do.

Two heavily armed Gadhafi pickup
trucks came over that rise firing.

I remember so clearly the sound of it,

the volume of it, the sound
of something eating metal...

and I remember hoping against hope that
there would be some kind of out, out of this,

there was some kind of trap door in time.

I crawled back to the sand dune, Anton
was at the other sand dune in front of me,

I heard him call for help.

It appeared he was cut across
the midsection with AK fire

and it was a serious amount of blood.
He had already lost consciousness

and probably already died.

A group of young soldiers approached me
and we were thrown in the back of a truck.

I remember getting photographed
with a cell phone,

and thinking, you know, this is where
they find all these photographs

that are evidence of war crimes some
day, and realizing this is me now.

DIANE: I was with my mother.

We were out to lunch and
I received a phone call,

and, um, that's how we first heard, you know?

I think I was in denial about how
dangerous this really was, Brian.

I was furious, just furious.

Scared for him, furious.

I hate to revisit it, but it's
just like... I told you, Jim.

I think we all went through the stages of
total shock, you know, and then just...

What are we gonna do, and then anger.
After all we're family, you know?

JIM: You're so humble. You lost everything,

your freedom, your control, your ability to talk
to anybody and tell anybody you're okay,

thinking one minute, "Oh, yeah,
I'm a foreign correspondent,

and the next minute somebody who you
respect killed, and you have nothing."

CLARE: Jim was concerned
that his own competitiveness

with Manu, with Anton, with himself, his
own, sort of macho aggressiveness

had driven him to make decisions
that were not the best decisions.

We were all questioning our judgment.

One of the main things that affected
all of us is that Anton had kids

and none of us do.

JIM: Every day I have to deal
with the fact that Anton is not

going to ever see his three kids anymore,

and I was part of that decision-making
process... that took him away,

that took him away from his kids, and his wife.

JIM: And I had a lot of time
to play over those moments,

especially that one day when we were captured.

I tried to question myself, "What are your
reporting on, what is this all about?"

It was quickly apparent
that this was about being

what you think is an authentic
conflict correspondent,

seeing the front line and it not
being enough to just see it

from a distance, but to
push it to the next level.

You were basically waiting to get
shelled and the question is, why?

You know, why... why are you doing this?

MICHAEL: A lot of us were just scratching
our head, right? There's no money.

Maybe you get a story here
or there that you sell.

You know I used to "loan him money".

You know, my credit report has one ding on it
and it's the one loan that I co-signed with Jim.

I think Jimmy was just a little
outside the lines, you know.

Well, he was wicked disorganized.

MARK: We had to tell him to come to dinner.

Like if dinner was at 5:00, we'd tell him
it was at 3:00, so he'd show up at 5:00.

He always lives in the moment.

I don't know if Mike ever told you
that Jim was late to his wedding.

"John, can I sleep at your house?" "John,
can my friend stay at your house?"

"Yes, Jim, yes."

Even though you just were like, "Jim, just
wake up! Wake up! What are you doing?

Get a real job, start saving up for retirement."

I remember I said like, you know, why don't
you come to Chicago, my... my dad runs this

boot camp, it's teaching young felons.

He goes there for the interview and
I call him afterwards and I'm like,

"How'd the interview go?" He's like "Oh,
it was great, I think it went great".

I call up my dad, and he goes,
"He said it went great, did he?

'Cause I just talked to the lady at the hiring
board and when she went out there,

she found Jim sleeping with his head back
on a wall and he's wearing jeans with like

paints or something all over them".
And I called Jim back, I'm like, Jim,

"what the hell happened at the interview?"

He's like, "It was hot in there, Tom. It was hot.
I just put my head back and I nodded off."

And I'm like, "Did you have jeans
on with paint?" He's like,

"Yeah, they had like these like, symbols
on it, what was I supposed to wear?"

I'm like, "Jim, it's an interview,

it's an interview. You can't do this!"
And so my dad always says that,

"Jim has a million dollar resume
and a ten cent interview."

He came and he started teaching
reading and writing, some literature

and he was really good with these kids
'cause Jim was into hip-hop and rap and

he liked to grab a mic himself.

Jim connected with these guys. He'd
find out about their backgrounds,

talk to them. I think that really hit him.

Like he was seeing young guys that came
from terrible neighborhoods that...

never really had a chance.

And I think he started seeing like, there
are people who need their stories told.

JIM: The prison that we were
transferred to was filled

with all these political prisoners
from all walks of life.

Some were fishermen, some were engineers.

It was the warmth of these Libyans that
said, "Here, you're our guest, take this bed.

You don't have a cigarette,
here's a cigarette," you know.

"You want an extra piece of chicken, here."

These guys understand that I'm a
journalist and I'm trying to get the truth

and perhaps wrongly they think I'm on their
side, but I certainly feel like it now.

[Chanting Prayers On PA]

You know that if... if you are kinda without
hope, you're totally humbled,

you tend to go to your faith if you have faith.

Praying five times a day, it was the life,
it was their only source of life in prison.

I was up nights talking to them. Eventually,
you know, one of them said,

"Why don't you pray with us?"

And I said, "No, I don't pray to east, I pray
to Jesus," when you guys are praying.

He sort of looked at me, like, "Okay".

Well, I guess I'm experiential person
so I started praying with them.

Well, little did I know I just
proclaimed my conversion to Islam.

[Audience Laughing]

So from then on out, I prayed
with them five times a day

and... and it was just... it was so powerful
and it was something that I needed to do.

But it was difficult, I was thinking, you
know, "Jesus, am I praying to Allah?"

"Am I violating my belief in you?"

I don't have an answer to that.

I just know that I was authentically
praying with them and I was

authentically also praying to Jesus.

MICHAEL: Jim and I were very close in age,

looked enough alike that you
know, I used his ID in college,

but that's about it. We
couldn't be more different.

I mean, Jim was really different
from... from most of us, right?

I mean, to do what he went on
to do. It's not a normal path.

When Jim was taken in Libya, I just
went to overdrive at that point.

It's a nightmare. Each day, it becomes harder
you know, with... with the lack of information.

We know he's in Tripoli.

We believe he's in a detention center. We
really don't know much more beyond that.

We organized this huge group of Jimmy's
friends, we called them FOJ's. Friends of Jim.

We had a lot of outside help, but Michael
was sort of the CEO of the group.

His statement was, you know, "There are no
immeasurables other than getting Jim home".

Our biggest fear is that it becomes
yesterday's story and people forget about it.

We love Jim and we miss
him. We want him home.

BRIAN: Tell me about the release,
what was that day like for you guys?

REPORTER: After successful
diplomatic negotiations,

two American journalists and a Spanish
journalist are finally going home

after being kidnapped and detained by
the Libyan government forces for 44 days.

- What's your name?
- Manu Brabo.

- Are you okay?
- I'm fine.

If you didn't catch it the first time
around, get it from your buddy.

Guys, could you please give them some space.

MICHAEL: What was really interesting
about that whole process,

there was a day where we were making some
progress and I just decided that I have to go,

I have to get on a plane and go.

I don't know, I can't... I can't describe it.

I knew, at least felt strongly
that it was gonna work out.

And all the security guys
wanted to debrief him first,

and finally I said, "Enough of this shit"
and just went into the hotel room,

and I remember seeing Jim, he had a full
beard, and he just grabbed me and said,

"Mike." We both kinda just grabbed each
others arms like just to... is it real?

I ordered pizza and as many Heinekens

as they could put on a card and
about two packs of cigarettes

because I knew that's all they had over there.

I looked at them and I said, "I
guess... I guess I got this one".

And we just stayed up all night.

KATIE: All the family and friends, we
were all together waiting for them...

and all of a sudden we see these
blue lights just rushing at us.

We're like, "Oh, my God, this is Jim.
This is... he's actually here."

I don't know, it was like a movie. He
was just so happy to see everybody.

JIM: You have a close call. That's pure
luck that you didn't get killed there.

It's not worth seeing your
mother or father bawling

and worrying about your grandmother
dying because you're in prison.

It's not... it's not worth these things.

And outside in my parent's
home in a comfortable house

in New Hampshire, I sort
of had to start processing.

I was horrified to learn how much my
friends and family had done to help me.

I was inspired and I was horrified.

It was a weird feeling of like going
to your own funeral, you know?

There's no going back from something like this.

Some of the things that I'll never be able
to change, but I wish... I wish that I could.

This is Jim's blazer from when he
spoke at Marquette, this brown one.

Bunch of stuff to go through.

Yeah, so Jim lived with us for
what, three months? Summer...

- Summer after he was released from Libya?
- Summer until... yeah, up until he went back.

Um... he used to have all his clothes in here.
You can still see his Camelbak from the field.

- Sleeping bags.
- All his sleeping bags.

Yeah.

That was his bed right there.
He'd always crash out there.

Um... so it was cool having Jim here, especially
after him having been gone to Libya because...

I think when he came back, you know...

like you just wanted to
touch him a lot because...

I don't know, for me it was like, poke and
just make sure he's real and it was almost,

you're just more appreciative of
him and especially with the kids,

you know, getting to have him here
because he was always on the go.

They loved him, Uncle Jim. They'd come
downstairs at the crack of dawn and...

wake him up.

It was good as much as it... I
think he kind of like, you know,

had an itch he couldn't scratch
when he was domesticated.

When Jim came back from Libya, I offered
him a full-time job, uh... here as an editor

and while he sorted out what he would do next.

And he sat right outside my office.

He was grateful to have the job,

but working in an office was clearly not
um, what he... what he liked the most.

He was quiet, I don't want
to say he was withdrawn...

but he... he was... he was quiet.

And I just remember like, Brad my
fiancé and Jim were in the basement

and, um... Brad doesn't even remember
a time when Jim was sleeping.

You know, after the family
had kind of settled down,

Jim just went right to business, right to work.

We had found him a very good
psychologist to talk to,

but he seemed so "well", if you
will, um... that we didn't push it.

But he was so restless here at home.
He didn't want to be here at home.

JIM: Feeling like you survived something,

there's a strange sort of force that
you, uh... are drawn back to.

I think that's the absolute reality.

Everything else becomes
foreign. Like, it was strange

coming back to the real world, like
it was weird. It was normal in there.

CLARE: Yeah, if I go to Wal-Mart and
I'm looking at, like literally an entire

aisle full of Tupperware, it boggles my mind.

There's a deep absurdity to understanding

the peace that we're lucky
enough to have in this country

and the questions that it raises about

how do we make our money? What is the basis
of our peace, of our economic viability,

of the fact that, you know, I can
look at all of this Tupperware

and someone else, somewhere else is
looking at the ruins of their home?

ZAC: You know, you just start missing like all
the bombs and the fighting and everything.

I just used to love sitting up at
like at night and just listening.

[Guns Firing At Distance]

It's really kind of sick.

But it also... it feels like super
fortunate for being there.

And so you think like, out of 25
million people in your country,

you're the only person who's got to experience
that. Like fuck man, like how fortunate am I?

Like, you're witnessing history unfolding
and you're just getting this perspective

that is so unique.

I believe that front-line
journalism is important.

Without these photos and videos and
firsthand experience, we can't really...

- tell the world how bad it might be.
- [Singing]

[Bomb Blasting]

REPORTER: James Foley joins us now live

from inside Northern Syria
with more on what he saw.

Tell us more about you were able...
What you were able to witness.

Yes, thank you. You've heard about
indiscriminate shelling, but to see

those bodies left over from a direct
mortar hit was... was really shocking.

They were civilians and they are
under pretty continuous shelling.

[Chanting]

It seemed like he started
thinking about going to Syria

and by the time he mentioned it,

it was like he'd already
kind of made up his mind...

and he said he was going with John
Cantley, who's another colleague,

a British photo journalist that we'd
all met in Libya the year before.

- What's your name?
- Jim.

- John.
- Jim and John.

Johnny, you say I love you, you say.

I don't know. I... I really... didn't really...

get into it with Jim. I think
I made it too easy for him.

I mean... you know, it was something
he wanted to do and so...

we were trying to be supportive about
his decision to do that, you know?

You just want to punch him in the face.
You know, in a loving, brotherly way,

you know, but you're like,
"Come on, Jim! Come on!"

TOM: The last conversation I ever
had with Jim, I said to him, like,

"Jim, my man, why do you keep going
back into Syria? Like, I mean,

what's it like?" He's like "It's
crazy, its crazy." I'm like,

"Well, is it more dangerous than Libya?"

He's like, "Yeah, it's more dangerous than
Libya!" I'm like, "You got captured in Libya!"

You remember, you couldn't talk him out of it.

[Local Music Playing On Radio]

JIM: You know the thing is... is
there's physical courage, right?

For some reason I have physical courage.

But really, think about it, that's nothing
compared to moral courage.

I can go and get those shots, but if I don't
have the moral courage to challenge authority,

to write about things that are gonna
maybe have reprisals on my career.

If I don't have that moral courage,
we don't have journalism.

Jim chose one story in particular
about this hospital,

The Dar Al Shifaa hospital in Aleppo.

It was actually Jim's idea to
spend a week in that hospital

documenting what the doctors and the
staff there were doing on a daily basis.

[Jim Speaking]

You know, from what he and I witnessed,
they were literally shuttling people with

drips and you know, bandages and everything
in these tiny little taxis and cars.

And Jim was the one who came up
with the idea of raising money

to get an ambulance for the hospital.

And he was in touch with everybody
and there was an ambulance

that was like a secondhand ambulance that was

coming from Austria and Jim and I actually
made one trip in and we saw the ambulance

sitting outside of the hospital.

And that moment of joy on his face
was priceless. He was just like,

"It made it, that's awesome."

CLARE: I would say the flip
side of his willingness

to get out there and do things

is that like, okay, you get
an ambulance into Syria,

some militia is gonna commandeer it and use
it for their own purposes, they're gonna

put an anti aircraft in the back
of it, like go blow shit up.

Jim was not focused on that kind of issue.

Like he would think about
what's the best-case scenario,

not how things could go wrong.

NICOLE: It becomes very personal

because we have to live amongst
the local population,

and it's such like this brutal, endless conflict

that... you just, you feel so, kind
of... alone in the sense that

you can't do anything about it, you
can't do anything for these people.

For the people you've made friends with,
and for the people who took you in

and shared their food with you and
wanted you to play with their children.

We become the intimate
chroniclers of this conflict.

We don't have bureaus to go back to.

You're there and every moment,
of it, you share with the locals.

And I think there was just this enormous
guilt that rode on Jim's back

that made him feel so compelled to do much
more than just record video and file it.

There were times where he was
offering up video for free

and I would chastise him for it.
I'd be like, "What are you doing?"

He was like "Nah, you know,
whatever, it's fine, it's all good,"

and "I just want to make sure
the video gets out there."

DIANE: Jim's the kind of guy
who never needed much.

Some of the lifestyle of a
conflict journalist is tough,

but that didn't bother Jim.

The only possessions I think Jim
cared about were books and CD’s.

I mean, his camera ultimately.

He'd come home without a toothbrush, just
use whatever toothbrush was available.

Jim could fall asleep anywhere. All he
needed was just a little space on the floor.

He was like a cat.

This is a good one.

DIANE: Over time, you know, he slowly
got rid of his apartment, sold his car.

He just ended up really owning nothing.

So, what he would want for Christmas,
this last time before going to Syria,

he wanted a tough pair of pants.

He really did have less and less
and it didn't bother him at all

because he seemed richer and richer.

NICOLE: There was one day in
August, one Syrian activist

was taking us around this neighborhood
called Bustan Al Kasa,

and this fighter jet just started circling
above and just swooped right down

and hit a building that was a
couple hundred feet from us.

[Explosions]

We started seeing the civilians coming out...
and just clutching nothing really, just...

you know, ashen faces, there
was rubble everywhere.

It was chaos.

And the plane came around
again, dropped another bomb

really close by and actually we
were right across the building

and we looked up and we can see
the rubble start coming down.

That bomb had hit a family of, uh... seven.

JIM: Who was killed?

JIM: Who?

NICOLE: It was horrific in the
scale of it, but also just...

I think nothing prepares you for seeing
kids being killed and maimed in that way,

and I... and I know that Jim really loves kids, so,

you know, we were both just...
we didn't say anything

until we got to the field hospital where
they were bringing the bodies.

And we were both just in this mode of
just needing to get the pictures out.

I think when we were finished

that night though, we kinda like sat
down, and lit a cigarette and...

we just started talking about it and
really there wasn't very much to say

though, you know, like,

what is there to talk about when
you witness something like that?

So we just sort of sat in silence.

ZAC: Nothing prepares you for that,
like no amount of courses, nothing.

You just go there and you'll
either handle it or you don't.

And that's cool. Like either
you run, or you stay.

And there's... not one is better than the other,

but just don't delude yourself.
Some people aren't meant for that.

[Screaming]

DIANE: The shine was starting
to come off in a way.

There was a period of time where journalists
were welcomed with open arms

because they'd seen what had happened in Libya

and when that didn't come about after a year,
after year and a half, after two years,

it's just like, okay, what are you
guys doing? You know I had a doctor

tell me at the hospital that Jim helped
raise money for an ambulance.

He was like, "Look, you guys are
in and out of here since one year,

and it's the same exact thing except
it's worse. I don't wanna talk to you."

If the populace on the ground
whose side you're documenting

is getting more uneasy with
you, or less willing to help,

you're very dependent on the goodwill
of the people you're around.

It's just that moment of like, how
well can you know anybody?

Even say you know someone very well.

Two years of war, three years of war,
that's going to change anybody.

They warned journalists, they were
like, Al Qaeda is coming, you know,

maybe even worse than Al Qaeda is coming

and nobody is going to help us against
the Assad regime except for these guys.

So it was all there.

One of the main things I noticed
the last time when he came out,

he looked really hollow and
he was quite... quite silent.

You know, he had like that amazing
room-brightening smile

even if he had seen terrible things, as
one does. It was disheartening to see.

MARK: Before he left for Syria, I think we made
it a point, we were gonna bring him down

to Nathaniel Hall district and go
to the comedy club down there.

The comedians were horrible, but
like I was in the mood to laugh,

so I'm just laughing at you know, anything.

And I just remember looking at
Jim and he was just dead faced.

And then me and Jim went outside
for a cigarette, like we always do,

he said he had to go. We had a long hug, I
remember I hugged him a really long time.

Just like hugged him really
tight. I said be careful.

Obviously I didn't feel like that was
the last time I was gonna see him,

but it was... it was a good night... a
good end of the night, you know?

JOHN SR.: I guess If I had
any regrets, Brian, that I

regret that I found it difficult to
communicate with Jim, um...

I don't know if it's the male thing or
whatever it is, but I just wish I was able

to share more of who I was with Jimmy and
get him to share who he was with me,

which might have been just
as difficult, you know?

He would interview us when he came home,

and he did a great job interviewing us 'cause
you felt like talking because he was listening.

You know, he wanted to know how we were.

And that was when he came home,
that's what he wanted to know.

He wanted, "Well, how are you, how you doing?"

You know, "How's Grandma, how's Katie and Mark?"

And he just wanted to know how
everyone was doing, you know?

So in that way, Jim was kind of solitary.

He was home, end of October, right before
uh... he went back for Syria that last time

and, uh... he was going... I
remember he was leaving here

and he was going to New York to get a helmet

from somebody which was good, we were like,
"Getting safety equipment, we like this!"

Yeah, I remember we left and we
dropped him off at a train station

and he, you know, we were gonna
see him again in December,

- He was supposed to come home kind of...
- Oh, yeah, you have a good memory, yeah.

He was supposed to come home mid December.
And, uh... we were like, be safe, see you soon,

- and unfortunately, that didn't...
- Yeah.

- [Sobbing] Sorry.
- It's okay, I think that's enough.

NICOLE: We'd spent the beginning of
November in Aleppo again with Jim,

John Cantley and Mustafa, our translator
who's become a friend of ours.

I had had some issues with
my camera that week,

so, I just was like, "Jim, I gotta go back
to Istanbul, I'll see you guys in a week".

You know the moment when I said bye to Jim,

I had this feeling of reluctance to leave,

I think in a way maybe it did upset the
balance that he and I had shared for so long.

There are superstitions
when you're in a war zone.

There's like this one thing he and I
shared which was our lucky lighter.

It's very common in the middle east. It's like
the evil eye to ward off evil spirits, you know?

We'd used it for everything and for some
reason it never ran out of lighter fluid.

It's just like this stupid idea, you
put your hopes into one object

to make it feel safe.

I think about it a lot afterwards
that he didn't have it with him.

Maybe if I just gave him the lucky lighter,
everything would have turned out okay?

I don't know.

That day, I was in Reyhanli,
which is the border town,

and I would have seen them in about 5:00.

So I checked in and I told Jim, I'm like,

"Hey, you know I'm here, um...
so text me when you get in."

You know, 5:00 rolls by and I started to worry.

7:00, 8:00 rolls around and I'm like,
"Something is really wrong".

So I called Mustafa, and the first thing
he said to me was "Nicole, I'm so sorry.

Um, I didn't... I couldn't do anything," I
was like, "What are you talking about,

what happened?"

He was like, "You know, we were coming. We
were in the taxi, we were coming to Turkey

"to meet you and this van with
these four guys with guns,

"they stopped us on the road and they told us

"to get out and they were pointing
their guns at us and screaming

"and the gunman made Mustafa tie up their hands

"and they put John and Jim
into the back of their van."

So I hung up and I just started
crying. I was like, um...

I didn't know if I was gonna see Jim again and
that was the first thought that came to my head.

It was like almost surreal... just,
this is a bad dream. It's not...

It's never really happening, you
know, it's not happening.

This can't be, you know, this can't happen
again... we can't do this again.

Yeah, it was... you know, and
I dove in just like before.

I felt like, okay, it's going to be 45 to 100
days of hell and then we'll have him back.

In a matter of a week, you could
tell it was very different.

A lot of misinformation as
opposed to last time in Libya,

after a week went by, we knew where he was,

who to deal with, so we just concentrated
on routes to get to one person.

Here was a mystery right out of a
crime show or something, right?

Where you're trying to piece
together bits of information.

For the next three weeks, there was
just dead ends and false information

and rumors and people being
scared of talking because

they had a suspicion of who
maybe was responsible,

and they didn't want to get entangled in it.

DIANE: Phil Balboni offered to stand
up a security team to try to find Jim.

So all these people were trying
so hard to get in place,

but it was a very, very chaotic, confusing time.

JOHN JR.: You're on eggshells,
you're just waiting to hear.

It's exhausting and I know
Jim felt guilty for that

and I'm not trying to make him feel more guilty,

but it's just... it's just a toll
that's taken by the families.

BRIAN: What were the hurdles getting
White House and FBI involved?

It's very tough to get action, and I understand
that, you know, the world is a big place,

and so I actually felt guilty sometimes
trying to not to ask too much of them.

You know, Jim made this decision,
but, you know, just...

just give it your best attention
and... and... and we'll trust you.

That's kind of where it started, the relationship.

And then I met the first agent that came over

and, uh... it was just a kid out of school
and his first question to me was,

had I asked the regime for assistance?

Are you fucking kidding me? I called the
regime and asked them for assistance?

Uh, no, I hadn't thought of that, thank
you. Thank you very much for that tip.

They told us... they advised us to be quiet,

because hopefully, you know, they could
find him and get him out and such.

So we didn't say anything, so we went
through Christmas and all that,

you know, not telling anyone, but our
closest family that Jim was missing.

In some ways, it was better because
I didn't have to explain it.

Because at times, it could
feel like accusatory, like,

"Well, he was in Syria". That's not fair, like,

you don't do that with police or firemen or
something like that, who do dangerous jobs.

You don't say, "Well, you were in a fire,
what did you think would happen?"

My friend doesn't need to
explain why he's a journalist.

DIANE: Come the new year, I
couldn't stand it. I was frantic.

So we chose to go public.

JOHN SR.: I appeal to the people who have Jim,

to give us some information in
terms of his welfare, his health?

It breaks my heart that the
persons who have captured him

don't understand his goodness.

My personal feeling is that
silence helps two people.

One is the government, it doesn't
push them to do more sooner,

and the captors, it allows them
to do whatever they want.

It's difficult now with all the
talk about the Islamic State,

they've become so famous or infamous,

but the Islamic State, ISIS/ISIL

was on nobody's radar at the time.

With a very high degree of confidence,
we now believe that Jim was abducted

by a pro-government militia
group and was subsequently

turned over to Syrian government forces.

This is the first time we've really
heard anything like this, so,

we are very hopeful like John says, you know?

Well, it turned out we were
dead wrong about that.

MICHAEL: All the information
upfront was just a bunch of BS.

No one knew what the heck they were
talking about because we had no access.

That whole year, I don't care what anyone says,
all the efforts, all the leads, all this and that,

we were in the wrong area of the country.

You know, and Syria is about the size of
New England, maybe, a little smaller.

So here you go, Brian, go
into New England, find Jim.

I think the moment I learned
that he had been kidnapped,

I was just like this is going
to be a really long process.

Um, but I'm gonna do anything that
I can in my power to get him home.

Because, um... because I can't stand the
thought of him being in a cell somewhere,

cold and hungry, and I can't sit
here and not try to look for him.

My name is Daniel and I'm
a Danish photojournalist.

I started as a... a gymnast,

and while I spent all my time in gyms all
around the world doing gymnastics, I...

got bored when I didn't do anything
else and I started to take pictures.

I only planned to be inside Syria for two days.

I had one day of work when I walked
around this small, quiet town.

It was spring.

So the weather started to be very better
and people seemed happy and relaxed.

And we were told to go and... and...
and speak to some guys in the area.

Very calmly, we're sitting in
sofas, they were offering tea.

Everything was calm and quiet. Even
though I knew that something was...

strange, something was wrong.

Uh... and then they just asked me to stand up,

and they took off my glasses, and they said,
"Don't worry" and "This is just a procedure".

That was how everything began
so, you know, a quiet Sunday,

beautiful spring morning
became a nightmare for me.

The longer you are a hostage, the easier it
becomes in some way, the better you get at it.

And I had like one and half month by myself,
and after I believe, two and a half month,

I was put together with two other Westerners,
and then we were put together four.

I think we were five together, and then 7
together, then came another one, eight.

Then it just started to evolve.

We were in that cell, British, Americans...

French, Italian, German, Danish,
Russian, Spanish.

We were 19 at one stage.

And one day we had to sit faces to the
wall, so, but I could see under my arms.

I could see, uh... some mattress were
moved in and there came some guys in

traditional Syrian clothes

and then they closed the door again,
the big metal door, and I looked up

and there was James and John Cantley.

Everybody was like "Yay, welcome,
welcome!" You know, it's two new friends.

You know, I created this... this picture
in my head of this big, like,

war journalist and so I could
only get disappointed in a way,

but... but, he... he... I remember him being
like, "Uh, what's happening?" Yeah and...

So that was-basically the first time I met him.

But it was real different to be put
together with James and John

because they've been together in prison
for almost a year. When I first saw them,

they was the most experienced
of us and, uh... I started

from the beginning and I think the whole group
started to... to lean a little bit against them.

DANIEL: James was very silent most of the time.

He was very good at listening.

He managed to make the room bigger
in a way by being small himself

and that is a very, very difficult thing to be.

And you really want to scream in the
head of everybody like, "Fuck off!"

[Nicolas Speaking]

I remember one time James was
asked to stand up the whole night

in the middle of the room.

DANIEL: Late at night, there was no light at all,

so we were just sitting there
in completely darkness

and that time really, really, really went slowly.

What we did, James and I, we
started to develop a way of

passing through these hours of darkness

by giving each other, like, massages.

And it sounds a maybe a little bit, you know,
uh... strange or gay, or whatever, but...

But there was something, there
was something nice about it.

And James asked me, "Can you teach me
how to give like a real nice massage,

so when I get out, and I meet a woman,
I can... I can really impress her?"

So we started having these
kind of lessons, you know?

Our body had witnessed a lot of trauma and

the fact that somebody is actually touching
you and... and it's a nice feeling,

for me, it was a nice way to
feel a little bit human again.

And James, he never learned
how to give a proper massage,

it was awful every time, so he really,

he really managed, to... to get
a good deal out of that one.

I remember one time, we were
given a lot of dates to eat

and at some point we were
moved and you just don't

leave food behind, or destroy it or whatever,
but sometimes you have to do it

because there's no where to put it.

[Nicolas Speaking]

James, he just took out his pants and
he took out like two-kilos of dates.

"Don't worry, guys."

He could have taken all the
food by himself later that night

or whatever, but he always took the
things so he could share it around

or give it to the people who didn't have it.

In the beginning of James' and John's
captivity, they were really starved.

They didn't like to talk about it, they didn't
find it very interesting to talk about,

but one thing I know was that... uh...

That they really, really,
really had a difficult time.

But they managed to get back on
track to gain strength again.

It was very interesting to see what
happened between James and John

because they've been together
for almost a year.

When I first saw them, that
meant they have spoken about

every single thing there is to talk about.

So I was basically the one starting
to listen to all James' story again.

There was a period of time
in the prison where we

was not interrupted by the guards very often.

It had meant that we could get a routine,
so we worked out, we did a trivia,

we had lectures and stuff like this.

We managed after, I don't know,

three weeks, one month or
so, to make this Risk game.

[Nicolas Speaking]

We had a small bucket that
we received some yogurt in

and we cut out a piece of cardboard
and we made three lines

and we put it in the bottom of the bucket and
then you should hold up a date seed and...

and let it go,

and it would fall down and
whatever number it landed on,

it would be that number. So
that was our dice for the game.

DANIEL: You know, take like ten journalists,
war, and put them into one room

and make them play the game

about taking control over the world, you know,

it's basically like putting
gasoline to a bonfire.

DANIEL: We started to have our own small world

that made everything much easier to survive
in a way. It was much easier to understand.

We didn't have to think about economy, we
didn't have to think about bank loans or...

the prices of gas at the moment.

You adapt into the situation

and then suddenly this... this whole
thing becomes a part of your life.

This is your life.

When you look back on it, that's what
I remember was our small society,

where we really start to know each other.

You know who made this fart, you
could smell, this is the fart of you.

[Nicolas Speaking]

I remember James' 40th birthday,

it was late at night, it was completely
dark. James said, "Oh,

by the way, I, uh... I turn 40 today."

I was just like, "What?" So we sang a song
for him and, uh... I remember that we said,

"We hope it would be a much
better birthday next year."

Right here. One, two and three.

Come on! Smile! Please! Nice! Good!

We've been through a lot together.
Michael has co-signed loans for me.

He has lent me his professional clothes,

his car, his dental plan.

[People Laughing]

And I think sometimes we struggle
to understand each other

and where exactly we're coming from
and... why we do the things we do, uh.

Michael has entirely too much common sense...

and sometimes I have entirely
too little common sense.

We've somehow grown closer
despite the differences

and it's, um... I guess it's about being brothers.

I'd say the first 100, 150 days I was
all in, but I definitely retracted

pretty strongly after that. I have
a lot of regrets about not, uh,

not continuing full steam, and...

I don't know if it was because
I was trying to protect myself,

or I was just trying to protect
my family, and that you know,

give the kids the attention I have, you
know, I could argue that that's what Jim

would prefer, and I don't know
it was all kinds of, of ex...

excuses or reasons but I... it's
something I do feel terrible about.

But then, uh, then I got pulled
right back into it very strongly,

and very immediately when um...
the first e-mail came to me.

"Hello, we have James and want to negotiate
for him. He is safe. He is our friend,

"and we do not want to hurt him. If
you want cooperation we have rules.

"You cannot go to the media ever about this.

"If you do, we will not negotiate.
We want money fast."

We shared everything we had with
everybody, you know, FBI knew,

security team knew, everyone knew.

They said, "Just keep them
talking" and all that,

"they're just beginning their negotiations,

we've got time. Just keep at it."

MICHAEL: So I, uh, after coordinating
with some officials replied to them.

"We've been concerned about Jim and want
to know that he's okay. Please provide us

"with proof that you have Jim,

and we will be happy to
work things out with you."

DIANE: We still didn't know
who was holding him.

It was obvious that they were
people against the Assad regime,

but they didn't identify themselves any more
than that at all. They were very shrewd.

And their e-mails unfortunately
were totally undetectable.

About a week goes by, and they responded.

"James Wright Foley is being detained by us.

"At this stage no video or picture evidence
of his well-being will be provided until

"we see tangible progress in
your efforts to negotiate.

"However you will be able to ask
three questions of a personal nature

"that nobody except James
will know the answers to.

"And our primary demand is
that you use your influence to

"pressure your government to
release our Muslim prisoners,

"who they have imprisoned,
whether innocent or 'guilty'

"according to 'your laws.'

"If this fails to bear any fruits,

then our secondary demand is
the sum of 100 million Euros."

FBI, um, seemed to have their hands tied
because all they were able to do was

okay our family e-mails,

and they really weren't able to
help us much with strategy.

They just told us to be yourselves, be family.

Tell them, "The truth is we
can't release any prisoners,

we certainly don't have a hundred million Euro."

Michael came up with some questions
I didn't know the answers to,

but we sent those back to the captors.

MICHAEL: Then there was some brief comment.

It says, uh... "James was detained
whilst operating as a 'journalist'.

"After his capture,

"and the following interrogations
we came to learn that he had been

"embedded with the US troops
serving in Afghanistan.

"And that his brother, Michael Patrick Foley
is a serving officer in the US Air Force."

But I was never in the Air Force. That was John.

My brother Jim... said that Mike
was the Air Force officer.

It may have been a typo, it
may not have been, but...

I believe it was my, you know, my big brother

trying to protect me. You know,
you love your brothers, but...

For him to put... be willing to put his
life on the line or his body on the line...

for my protection is significant.

[Inaudible]

DANIEL: I think they came in
with the proof of life for John

and then everybody else
got their proof of lives.

Everybody came in like, "Yes!"
and "We are happy", and...

but James didn't get his proof of life.

Until one day that they... they came in
and they asked James to follow...

and when he came back, you know, he came
back with his arms over his head and...

he said that this was the best day of his life.

And then him and John, they...

they hugged each other and they were dancing
around like they just won the big lottery.

DIANE: That was early December of 2013.

All the answers came back right
on. We knew they had Jim.

But by the end of December,

they e-mailed us back and said, "This
is the last e-mail you'll get from us".

And cut off communication.

JOHN SR.: I mean, the first year we just trusted
that the government would have this in hand

and that, um, despite our lack
of information, etcetera,

they had been through this before,
they knew what to do,

and you know, we were in good hands.

At the end of that year we realized
that nothing was being done,

and that we were really going to
have to do something on our own.

PHIL: Diane was great about
meeting with ambassadors

in Washington, from other countries
that might have some influence.

It turned out that no one had any influence,

because the group that had him didn't listen
to anybody. But we didn't know that.

MALE REPORTER: It's kind of come as a
surprise to a lot of us this group ISIS.

A group that we hadn't really heard
much about. Who exactly are they?

DR. SALLY LEIVESLEY: Well, it's
a criminal marauding gang.

They come out of the original,
very brutal Iraqi terror group.

MICHAEL: They're the worst.
They're the worst of the worst.

Washington doesn't know
how to deal with them.

How's this family in New England
gonna figure that out, right?

I mean, you're dealing with, um... pure evil,

but a capable and organized group.

[Pierre Speaking]

They were very tough towards
me also, but no matter what,

they meant freedom for me, because
they were the one negotiating for me.

But James and John were destroyed
by the Beatles in the beginning.

PIERRE: He had this ability
to escape the situation.

To, enjoy, you know, the sound
of children playing outside.

Or enjoy the view of just some sun
entering through the window.

[Didier Speaking]

DANIEL: James converted in
the beginning of his captivity.

And I know that was at the same period
as he was getting really bad treatment.

It gave a good routine. Normally we have a
tradition of going into church every Sunday.

But if you cannot do that,

you need another way of feeling that
you are doing something with your faith.

And you can call it a surviving skill.

You can call it just a way of being
interested in another culture.

What James used to say to me was
that, for him God is the same.

DIANE: We had such great Christmases
when the kids were little.

Oh, just wonderful, wonderful Christmases and

you know as they got older
and Jim's siblings married,

they weren't always able to be
home. But Jim was always home.

Most of my memories of Jim
culminate around the holidays.

You know, the playing of the video games,
the board games, the Ping-Pong tournaments,

the anything tournaments.

- [Laughing]
- Grandma. Grandma. Grandma.

You wake up and you open the
gifts and you're like, "Ah, crap,

Jim has my name." [Laughing]
"What's he gonna give me?"

So, I shouldn't say that. It was good times.

And then the last Christmas he was home,

I remember him, like, rolling on
the floor with Michael's son Matty.

He loved that kid.

There's a million Christmas stories though.

DANIEL: You know it's difficult for us
to celebrate Christmas in any way,

and um, we didn't have any
presents to give each other.

So we... we decided to sit down in a circle,

then we had to say something
nice to each other,

and I remember that I said to James that,
"James, the first time I met you was,

"you know, in this prison and you looked
as confused as if you were just

"dumped down on the earth
from the moon or something

"and you basically destroyed my whole
idea of this great war journalist,

"James Wright Foley, and then suddenly
I find out that you are very clumsy,

"you're very bad at sports,
but then... then again,

you're... you're the most..." I think
I said to him, you know,

"you're the most honest person, there
is no evil at all to find in you, James.

"You are pure good. Sometimes too good.

And I'm, I'm really happy that
I've, that I've met you."

That was our Christmas night.
When I went to bed that night

I really felt that I had the best
Christmas night in my life.

[Didier Speaking]

[Pierre Speaking]

DIANE: So that's when I
started to get more frantic.

I mean I thought, There's gotta be some
way to get the French and the US to talk.

"Didier, this is my husband John."

They were willing to share all kinds of
things about Jim personally, how he was,

what they did. So I was
starting to get all this hope,

and they have a hostage crisis unit in Paris,

and they were very generous with their
time. So it was so different than what

I was experiencing, so I was just
kind of like, "jeez," you know.

"Jim and the others, our other Americans are
as important as these guys, aren't they?"

And it was the last night I was in Paris
and I got a phone call from John.

He said, "Diane, we got another
email from the captors".

I thought, "Oh, great, what did they say?"

And that's when they threatened to kill Jim.

But me and my cluelessness,

I was just excited that they reached out to us.

We had raised about a million dollars in pledges

and so I was so excited to hear
from them because we thought,

now we can tell them, we have this
money. And I was just so clueless.

We knew that paying a ransom was illegal

and we also knew that, um...
it wouldn't have stopped us.

Foleys were prepared to mortgage their house

and do what needed to be
done to make a payment.

I have a lot of evolving thoughts about this
whole process, and what the government

didn't do that it should have done. I mean...

if you just look at the facts, there are
15 European hostages who are alive

and with their families and
friends and loved ones today.

I wish we had started raising money sooner.

I wish we had negotiated. I wish
it had turned out differently.

In some sense, I was okay with
the fact that he got captured.

'Cause I knew he was doing what he wanted to do.

You know, and as a good family member and
as a good brother, I knew to understand that.

My mom did a great job in,
you know, keeping faith,

and working as hard as she could, but...

from the get-go once it happened, I
kind of felt like he was already gone.

DANIEL: So after a group of the other
hostages was released, the Beatles,

they came back, the day after...

And they...

They beated the shit out of James and I.

I think it's called a "Charlie horse"

when you put your knee into
the legs of a person and...

They did that to... to me and James while
we had to sit in a stretched position.

I don't know how many they gave
us, but, it just continued on us...

never tried anything that hurt
so much in my entire life.

And then they... they just left.

And I was just laying there crying, and I
couldn't be in my own body of pure pain

and James in the other corner of the room, he...

I knew he got exactly the same treatment
as me, but I couldn't hear it.

He just, uh... I don't know if he
kept it inside, or how he did it,

but only a few minutes after they
left James he kind of looked up

and asked me if I was okay.

I was like "shut up, James", I remember I said,
"shut up, James," you know, you know.

"Don't ask me if I'm okay," you know...

"Don't worry about me," you
know, "worry about yourself".

Yeah, we just laid there until the
pain started to disappear a bit.

Two or three days after they came in again.

This time, the Beatles just told us that,
"Now guys, everything's changed".

And they took all our food, our
games, most of the blankets.

And they started to use, like police clubs.

So every time we went to the toilet
we got beatings with a stick.

We were so scared, we lost all hopes.

No matter what came through
that door, it was evil.

Those 14 days before I got released
was the absolute worst times.

When people started to get released,
we decided to send out letters

with the person who was released.

But James he didn't... he didn't
want to bother any of us.

And I remember one day that,
I saw that John and James

had been talking for some times in the corner.

And after that John, he came
over to me and said "Daniel,

James he want to ask you something."

"Okay, okay. What up, James?" And he's like,

"Oh, uh, it's just if, if, if you want to
carry out a message or something."

You know, he was very, he said
it fa... he said it fast like,

like he didn't wanna bother me.

There's many ways of dealing
with a situation like this

and James, I think one of the reasons
why he remained so strong,

was because he managed to think
about all the good things.

He saw the light instead of the dark spots,

where a guy like John, he
was much more realistic.

He knew when it was bad.

But I couldn't bring out the letter.
I was too afraid after these 14 days.

So I decided just to memorize
it as fast as I could.

So I started waiting, I knew they will
come in the morning to pick me up.

One day went, two days went,

and then fourth day, fifth day.

Shit, man. And then I woke up
the sixth day in the morning,

and I couldn't sleep, I couldn't sleep all night,

because I was so afraid of what
if they are playing a trick on me.

And James he walked over to me and he, he
sat down right next to me and, and he said,

"Are you okay, Daniel?" and I said "Yeah, uh".

And then I just couldn't hold it back
and I said "Fuck... fuck, man,

"I am really, really scared. I really
really, really, really scared right now.

I don't know what to do, what to think. I..."

And he said "Daniel, calm down. Calm down.
"Everything will be fine. You are going home.

"They will come in a few hours or tomorrow,
but one thing is sure Daniel, you will go home".

Once again it was a weird feeling
because I was sitting there crying

and making a scene in front of James
and I was about to go home

and James he didn't have
anything to look forward to.

James, he went back to
his, his side of the room.

Ten minutes after they knocked on the door,

they came in and asked me to put a
blanket over my head and follow them.

That was the last time I... I saw James.

I call on my friends, family, and loved
ones to rise up against my real killers,

the U.S. government.

For what will happen to me is only a result
of their complacency and criminality.

I wish I had more time.

I wish I could have the hope of freedom
and seeing my family once again.

But that ship has sailed.

MICHAEL: I hadn't heard
Jim's voice in... two years.

You know, I guess, um... you can see
it in his neck, in his face he's just...

this strength he has at that moment.

And, um... I think of myself I'd be calling
for my mother or something.

Um... just the strength he had and I... I... um...

I... I wanted to feel what he felt
was the reason I watched it.

I kept getting messages saying,
"John, are you okay?

John, are you okay about what they
said, about what your brother said?"

I'm like, "What are you talking about?"

I call on my brother John, who
is a member of the US Air force.

Think about what you are doing.

Think about the lives you destroy,
including those of your own family.

Even though he was reading that script,
he seemed defiant... to the end.

I mean, for sure, I still have
some guilt regarding...

me... and just me and...
unfortunately my profession,

but I'm sure that he endured torture.

Interestingly, John and I have... we've
argued a lot about things since that.

We've been communicating a lot more,
we've come a lot closer as a result of it,

and I think Jim would have loved that.

And you know Jim as well as I do,

he wouldn't have said those things
if there wasn't someone else

that was going to be harmed as a result
of it, he never cared about himself.

KATIE: My only thought when I found out
about Jim was, "How am I gonna get home?"

I had missed the initial chaos
of when it all happened,

but slowly we all kind of came together.

We literally chose the smallest
room possible in our house.

But everybody was just kinda huddled together.

Jim always found a way to bring
people together. Always.

DIANE: I really don't think I, came
to know Jim as a man, as an adult.

I came to know him through his friends.

It's hard as a mother, you know, they're
always your children somehow...

and it's hard to see that they're adults

with heir own gifts in their
own way in the world.

The day before his memorial,

I was like, "shit".

I was like, now I get it. Now I get it.

You know, jokingly, I was always
like, you know Jim get a job.

Jim, you know, save for retirement.

And so what I didn't recognize,
he was trying to teach me,

John, you need to look outside of yourself.

John, It's not about physical or monetary things.

It's about how you act. It's who you teach,

who you mentor.

Who's going to remember you? What
are they going to remember about you?

Jimmy was included in the long line of
journalists who gave their lives to tell the truth.

We were just totally humbled by the fact that
the committee in Bayeux would nominate him

to be included on one of the markers with,
2,000 other deceased journalists.

It was a very important moment.

This was Jim, and, uh... it made me
feel very warm inside that, um,

he was accepted as one of them.

[Didier Speaking]

JOHN SR.: And that's the difference with Jim.

He was just a you, and a me,
friendly guy, until tested.

[Voice Breaking] Where that
came from I don't know, Brian.

Because you can't... just can't
grit something like that out.

You have to have an inner
strength... to do that.

We discovered Jim just like the world did.

He was truly a man for others.

NICOLE: Witnessing Jim's murder this
publicly. It sends a message to all of us,

and my... I guess response to that is,

having lost so many friends and knowing that
people are purposely out for journalists now...

I mean, we have to fight back
with our pictures and our words.

I just... I don't wanna let them win.

The extent to which the
media coverage took off,

it was just staggering. It
was absolutely staggering.

Something like 94% of Americans
were aware of Jim's death

and how he died. It's the event
with the second most recognition

in recent American history after 9/11.

He would have been horrified by that, I mean,
he was there to talk about the Syrian people

and this is the takeaway.

BRIAN: What is your response to people who
would say that Jim shouldn't have been there?

CLARE: My response is, do you read
the newspaper, do you watch TV?

You're depending on someone
to bring you that information.

If you care about what's going on in Syria,
you don't have the right to be like,

"Oh, why's he there?"

How do you even know what
"there" is? Because he told you.

PIERRE: I remember the video,
and there was a desert...

and in the background you could
see that the desert stopped.

And there was all the valley of Euphrates.

So I called into what I know from
James. I'm like 100% sure

that even though he was convinced he
will be killed, he enjoyed the view.

NICOLAS: He died as a free man.
This is not the death of a hostage.

And that is the difference eventually
between... between Jim and myself.

I ended up being released...

but, uh... he ended up free.

And when we came to James' funeral,

everything started to become
real again in a way.

The fact that I managed to say
goodbye to James together with

all his loved ones was really powerful. It
reminded me how important it was that...

That James, he... he gave that letter to me.

MICHAEL: "Dear family and friends, I
remember going to the mall with Dad...

"a very long bike ride with Mom.

"I remember so many great family times
that take me away from this prison.

"Dreams of family and friends take me
away and happiness fills my heart.

"I know you are thinking of me and
praying for me and I am so thankful.

"I feel you all especially when I pray. I pray
for you to stay strong and to believe.

"I really feel I can touch you in even
in this darkness when I pray.

"I think a lot about my brothers and sister.

"I remember playing werewolf
in the dark with Michael

"and so many other adventures.

"I think of chasing Matty and
T around the kitchen counter,

"it makes me happy to think of them.

"If there is any money left in my bank account,

"I want it to go to Michael and Matthew.

"I'm so proud of you, Michael,

"and thankful to you for
happy childhood memories,

"and to you and Kristie for happy adult ones.

"And big John, how I loved visiting
you and Cress in Germany.

"Thank you for welcoming me.

"I think a lot about Ro-Ro and
try to imagine what Jack is like.

"I hope he has Ro-Ro's personality."

PRIEST: So Mark and Casey, what
name have you given your son?

- James Michael Foley.
- James Michael Foley.

"And Mark, so proud of you too, bro.

"I think of you on the west coast and hope
you're doing some snowboarding and camping.

"I especially remember us going to
the comedy club in Boston, together,

"and our big hug after. The special
moments keep me hopeful.

"Katie, so very proud of you. You were
the strongest and best of us all.

"I think of you working so hard,
helping people as a nurse.

"I pray I can come to your wedding.
Now I'm sounding like Grammy.

"Grammy, please take your medicine,
take walks and keep dancing.

"I plan to take you out to Margarita's
when I get home.

"Stay strong because I am going to
need you to help reclaim my life.

"Jim."

# If I should close my eyes #

# That my soul can see #

# And there's a place at the table #

# That you save for me #

# So many thousand miles #

# Over land and sea #

# I hope today #

# That you hear my prayer #

# And somehow I'll be there #

# It's but a concrete floor
where my head will lay #

# And though the walls of this
prison are as cold as clay #

# But there's a shaft of light
where I count my days #

# So don't despair #

# At the empty chair #

# Somehow I'll be there #

# Some days I'm strong #

# Some days I'm weak #

# And days I'm broken I can barely speak #

# That place in my head #

# Where my thoughts still roll #

# Somehow I've come home #

# And when the winter comes
and the trees lie bare #

# And you just stare out the window
and the darkness there #

# Well, I was always late for
every meal you swear #

# But keep my place #

# On the empty chair #

# And somehow I'll be there #

# And somehow I'll be there #