Slain U.S. hostage knew dangers, but loved his work

RICHMOND, Va. — When Tom Fox didn't appear this week on a video of Christian activists taken hostage in Iraq, members of his Quaker congregation prepared themselves for the worst while praying for the best.

Word spread through the Hopewell Centre Quaker meeting in Clear Brook on Friday night that Fox's body had been found earlier in the day. But members said they would not let their sadness overshadow the importance of what Fox was trying to accomplish.

"We were very cognizant of the fact that there are a lot of people being killed over in Iraq every day, and not just foreigners, a lot of Iraqis are being killed," said Anne Bacon, clerk of the Quaker meeting. "This tragedy that we are feeling is a part of a much larger tragedy."

Fox, 54, was the only American in a group of four Christian Peacemaker Team members taken hostage last year by a previously unknown group, the Swords of Righteousness Brigade. A video showing the other three hostages — James Loney, 41, of Toronto; Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, a Canadian; and Norman Kember, a 74-year-old Briton — was shown Tuesday on Al-Jazeera television.

Fox's daughter Katherine described him as a wanderer, an outdoorsman and a listener. He also was a gifted musician and a former clarinetist with the Marine Corps Band in Washington, she said.

Those who knew him say Fox had prepared himself for the possibility he would not return from Iraq. He even wrote about it on his Web log when he first arrived in Baghdad in October 2004.

"I am to stand firm against the kidnapper as I am to stand firm against the soldier," he wrote. "Does that mean I walk into a raging battle to confront the soldiers? Does that mean I walk the streets of Baghdad with a sign saying 'American for the Taking'? No to both counts. But if Jesus and Gandhi are right, then I am asked to risk my life and if I lose it to be as forgiving as they were when murdered by the forces of Satan."

Fox worked with families of incarcerated Iraqis, said Paul Slattery, a member of his support group from Langley Hill Friends Meeting.

Formed by Mennonites, Brethren and Quakers in 1984, the CPT trains international teams to support local peacemaking efforts. A team has been active, for example, in Hebron on the West Bank. CPT has been in Iraq since 2002, and calls for an end to the U.S. and British presence.

Fox also escorted shipments of medicine to clinics and hospitals and worked to form an Islamic Peacemaker Team.

"This guy was not after martyrdom by any means," Slattery said. "What he leaves behind is a tremendous challenge for the rest of us and a guiding force."