Washington D.C. – Fox News, August 19, 2024
It’s been 10 years since American journalist James Foley was beheaded by the terrorist group ISIS, and while the pain will never disappear for his family, his mother has channeled her grief into meaningful action that honors his legacy.
Diane Foley has since dedicated her life to helping innocent Americans taken captive abroad and promoting journalist safety through the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation. She will never forget the day ISIS terrorists took her son’s life, but she has conflicted emotions on the somber anniversary.
“It’s a mixture of the grief that will never totally go away, but also the deep gratitude for our oldest son, Jim, because Jim really did want to make a difference. You know, he aspired to be a man of moral courage,” Diane Foley told Fox News Digital.
“He wanted to make a difference in the world. And so, I’m grateful that he’s challenged me and many other Americans, and people around the world to try to be a bit better, to use our gifts for good, use our gifts to inform, to care about others, to make a difference for others,” she continued. “So, I have a lot of gratitude.”
Diane Foley said she never could have gotten through the past decade without support from the people she has met through the foundation she launched weeks after her son’s barbaric murder shocked the world.
Foley was abducted in northern Syria in November 2012, while covering that country’s civil war as a freelancer for Agence France-Presse and GlobalPost. After being in captivity for two years, ISIS released a video titled “A Message to America” showing Foley’s beheading on Aug. 19, 2014, in retaliation for the Obama administration’s airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq. An American drone strike eventually killed Mohammed Emwazi, Foley’s killer, and ISIS leaders involved received life sentences in 2022.
Diane Foley, who actually spoke to one of the terrorists responsible in a Virginia courthouse, detailed her emotional journey in the 2024 book “American Mother,” and uses the proceeds to help other journalists.
“Jim was very aware of how important press freedom is for our democracy, that we really need to have journalists who dare to investigate the facts and speak the truth to power, if you will,” Diane Foley said.
