"Teddy [Roosevelt] Award for Political Courage" to RPCV and Ambassador Christopher Stevens
Several Senators and House Representatives have finally brought Hillary Clinton before them to regurgitate their pre-election criticism of the Administration’s initial description of the Benghazi killings that left four Americans dead.
Any mention of RPCV Ambassador Chris Stevens, who was among the four Americans slain in Benghazi, seemed mainly to magnify and justify the politics of the event.
But fortunately the quality of Stevens’ life and career was depicted earlier this month by Time Magazine writer Joe Klein.
In Klein’s column, “In The Arena,” (appearing in Time’s 2012 Person of the Year issue) Klein bestowed his annual “Teddy Awards for Political Courage.” Named for President Theodore Roosevelt, one such award was given to Stevens. Klein writes that Stevens “. . . Represented the best in American diplomacy, a man who insisted on being out with the people in dangerous places, learning from them and demonstrating, by his grace and courage, what America is all about. . . .”
Come to think of it, Klein might as well have added that Stevens represented the best in Peace Corps Volunteerism, wouldn’t you agree?
If so, please join over 970 RPCVs and other Peace Corps alumni who have signed our petition to honor Stevens by dedicating in his name some prominent space in the Peace Corps Headquarters Building. We’re aiming for 1,000 supporters to commemorate Stevens with our own kind of Teddy award. The petition can be accessed at:The petition appears when you click on: http://signon.org/sign/honor-rpcv-ambassador?source=c.url&r_by=5761851
Tino Calabria has taken an initiative that Peace Corps should strongly support and am glad to see that John Coyne has given it full coverage on Peqce Corps Worldwide. Peace Corps and the rest of us all need good role models and Chris Stevens was an important one.