US Aid worker shot dead in Pakistan.. He was my cousin.

[underseasurveyor]

I am so flooded with grief right now. I can't believe this is happening. NO No No NO Steven:cry:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94659762

edited I forgot to add link..

[closeupready]

1. My condolences to you.

I'm sorry for your loss. :(

[maddezmom]

2. I am so sorry

:hug:

[Fovea]

3. My your heart be lightened

and your grief be taken away.

My most sincere sympathies!

[uppityperson]

4. I am so sorry.

[October]

5. My condolences to you and your family.

So sad.

[panader0]

6. So sorry..........

He died trying to make things better.

[Maat]

7. I'm SO sorry.

May he rest in peace.

You and your family are in our thoughts and prayers.

[sonias]

8. I am so sorry for your loss temperancedissent

May your cousin Steven rest in peace. He did good work and you should be proud of his work for rebuilding Iraq and for his humanity.

Sonia

[City Lights]

9. So very sorry for your loss, temperancedissent.

:hug: Peace to you and yours. :hug:

[SammyWinstonJack]

10. Very sorry.

:hug:

[cali]

11. I'm so terribly sorry.

my deepest condolences to you and your family. Hang in there.

:hug:

[reflection]

12. Words escape me. I am so sorry. n/t

[BanzaiBonnie]

13. There are no words...

[raouldukelives]

14. So very sorry

[bunny planet]

15. Oh I am so terribly sorry

[BrklynLiberal]

16. I am so sorry for your loss.

:(

[bobthedrummer]

17. Sincere condolences to all that have lost loved ones in the war on terror...

[GreenPartyVoter]

18. I am so very sorry *hug*

[Porschenut1066]

19. So sorry to hear of your loss.

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. That's heart-breaking - he sounds like a great man

:hug:

[Catshrink]

21. I am so sorry for your tragic loss.

:grouphug:

[endarkenment]

22. I am so sorry for your loss.

[renate]

23. I'm so sorry

I read this on msnbc.com this morning and couldn't believe how wrong and cruel and heartbreakingly sad it was for an aid worker, someone who didn't have to be there but who wanted to help others, to be killed.

Your family is in the thoughts of millions of people around the world who hear this news--we mourn any death but particularly a death in the service of humankind.

Your cousin was a good man and his memory will live on in his good works.

:hug:

[truedelphi]

56. What renate said, with my condolences added. n/t

[lunatica]

24. Being an Aid worker is a great thing. I know you're proud of him.

The loss is so hard. In time you'll celebrate his life and know yourself to be blessed for having him in yours. I know.

[roguevalley]

25. there is no greater love than to lay down your own life for another.

your cousin joins the pantheon of good people who did things to help others. I am so very, very sorry for your loss. I wish you peace.

[devilgrrl]

26. I am so sorry for your loss

:hug:

[bertman]

27. My deepest sympathy for your loss.

It sounds like he was someone who actually was trying to do something positive.

[LeftishBrit]

28. I am so sorry.

He sounds like a truly wonderful man.

[samsingh]

29. I'm so sorry to hear about your loss

[cwydro]

30. Very sorry to hear this.

That region of the world is a very bad place right now.

He was very brave to even be there.

[Bunny]

31. Oh my. I'm so sorry.

RIP Steven. :hug:

[IndyOp]

32. I wish you and your family and Steven's friends peace at this difficult time.

I hope that you are all comforted by your memories of him and by your recognition of what a wonderful thing he did by working with US Aid.

When we achieve world peace we will all remember Steven's sacrifice and yours...

:hug:

[DU GrovelBot]

33. ## PLEASE DONATE TO DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND! ##

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[uppityperson]

34. Sometimes it just is the wrong time, grovelbot.

[meuniermr]

48. There should be some way

To mod or filter the donation-bot from obit threads.

[uppityperson]

49. I just alerted on grovelbot's post, asking mod to delete this subthread.

see if that does anything. If you want to join in, that might be good.

[PatriotGames]

35. Sorry for your loss. n/t

[applegrove]

36. I am so sorry.

[JI7]

37. i'm so sorry, i read about this yesterday

[Swede]

38. Sorry for your loss.

My sympathies to you and yours.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

39. (((((temperancedissent))))) I am so sorry.

[Greyhound]

40. Oh my, our condolences to you and yours. n/t

[mmonk]

41. I'm so sorry.

:hug:

[Raksha]

42. I am so sorry for your loss.

Steven sounds like a wonderful person, who not only cared about his fellow human beings but had committed himself to making life better for them. Such people are rare enough in this world, and we can't afford to lose a single one of them

[bdamomma]

43. my deepest sympathy to you

there are just no words.:-(

[lonestarnot]

44. Another damn shame. This is going to get worse I'm afraid too.

I am so sorry. :hug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

45. My condolelensces

[proud patriot]

46. my deepest condolences

:(

[Hekate]

47. I'm so terribly sorry for your loss. Condolences to your family...

:grouphug:

Hekate

[underseasurveyor]

50. Thanks all for your kind thoughts and prayers

I hate these threads myself. Not only for the obvious reason that someone has lost a loved one and you know the grief and pain they're going through but because sometimes there just are no words except, 'I'm sorry.' But ya know... that is enough. I feel hugged.
Thanks DU:grouphug: I love you all too:loveya:

Here's a photo of me and Steven and his Mom. This was taken about two years ago... It was the last time I saw him.


Hug your loved ones and tell them every day how much you love them.

[Duppers]

51. I am so sorry. Stephen was a wonderful person.

(((Hug)))

I searched for info about his death and found this news report/tribute at ABC News:



American Aid Worker Gunned Down in Pakistan

Stephen Vance Was Fatally Shot by Gunmen in Peshawar

By NICK SCHIFRIN and HABIBULLAH KHAN

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 12, 2008 —

He was, as a Pakistani friend called him, "just like us," an American who dressed like the natives, declined Western-style security details and sent his children to local schools.

Stephen Vance was also the head of an American-funded consortium trying desperately -- and quietly --to help rebuild Pakistan's federally administered tribal areas, the volatile districts along the border with Afghanistan where the Taliban are at their strongest.

This morning as he went to work in Peshawar, police say, the father of five and his driver were shot dead by masked gunmen in one of the city's most upscale neighborhoods.

It is the latest incident targeting not only Americans but anyone employed by a nongovernmental organization who lives and works in the largest city in Pakistan's northwest.

"He was a simple and a very straight-forward person. He was so straight forward that sometimes people thought he was rude, but he was not," said someone who knew Vance, refusing to be identified. "He loved his family, he was a family man. He liked and took care of his local fellow workers."

One colleague said today: "He was a really committed individual. And he was willing to embrace the risks associated (with) living in Peshawar, in that he had his wife and family there."

Vance was one of the few foreigners who embedded himself into the chaotic life of Peshawar. His wife, his mother-in-law and his whole family lived with him; he was one of few Americans in the city who didn't live alone.

His death is a blow to the Western and local groups working to help create jobs, schools and businesses in the tribal areas. U.S. Vice President-elect Joe Biden has argued that the central front of the war on terror is on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and that "the outcome of that battle is going to be determined less by bullets than by dollars and determination."

...

Vance, like many others, was trying to do that. As one colleague said today, "He believed in bringing a positive change, and he never believed he would be harmed."


http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=6235747
and here: http://abcnews.go.com/International/US/Story?id=6235747&page=2


Your cousin was a most exceptional person -- his work was heroic. It is so difficult to lose someone who epitomized goodness. I extend my deepest sympathies to you and your family.

[qanda]

52. I am so sorry

[malaise]

53. How sad

Deepest sympathy. :cry:

[MrsBrady]

54. our thoughts are with you

prayers and hugs to you and you family

I won't pretend to know how you feel, but I'm sorry for your loss.
Please make sure to take care of yourself.

[memory]

55. I wish words could be comfort

but they are just inadequate.
I am so sorry.:cry:

[Downtown Hound]

57. I'm very sorry...what a loss

Thoughts go out to you and all of his family.