Local Ties: Family Remembers US Ambassador to Libya
By: Maria Chandler WMBD/WYZZ TV
Updated: September 13, 2012
PEORIA-Following an attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya that killed four Americans, a family member of the U.S. ambassador to Libya is remembering the slain diplomat.
Chris Stevens' step-brother is from Peoria, and tonight he's reflecting on the tragedy with us.
Chris Stevens' family says he had everything it took to be a diplomat.
Except maybe one thing..
"The gravitas, Chris was the kind of guy that could make friends with anybody," says Stevens' step-brother David Commanday.
Their families merged when Commanday and Stevens were teenagers.
His step brother says Stevens never changed.
"He didn't take himself too seriously. He had a great, dry sense of humor, but also a poise and a calm. And he had a lot of fun with everyone he met. He had a lot of fun, he just connected," explains Commanday.
A quality that suited him best...
"He was about bringing people together. Listening to Palestinians and Israelis at opposite ends of the political beliefs. Without being patronizing to them. That's what peacemaking is all about."
Stevens served as a diplomat for two decades.
His death, a loss to many more than just his family.
"It's tragic, so deeply saddening," says Commanday. "It also makes us aware of the kind of roles people like Chris, over the years, are playing. Unsung, but critical roles they're playing. Not necessarily soldiers, but on the front line. The front line of a more important front. The most important front, and that's communication."
Commanday says Stevens was guided by American values,inclusion and tolerance.
While those ideals are the exact opposite of the actions that took his step-brother's life.
Commanday's confident Chris Stevens didn't die in vain.
But he says there's only one way to be sure it remains true...to keep all that his step-brother has worked for on the forefront, bringing more peace into the world.
"He would not say, pickup a gun on my behalf," says Commanday of his step-brother. "He would say, talk to your neighbor on my behalf. In memory of me."
Thursday, the deputy interior minister said Libyan authorities have made four arrests in the investigation into the attack that killed the U.S. ambassador.
Chris Stevens' step-brother is from Peoria, and tonight he's reflecting on the tragedy with us.
Chris Stevens' family says he had everything it took to be a diplomat.
Except maybe one thing..
"The gravitas, Chris was the kind of guy that could make friends with anybody," says Stevens' step-brother David Commanday.
Their families merged when Commanday and Stevens were teenagers.
His step brother says Stevens never changed.
"He didn't take himself too seriously. He had a great, dry sense of humor, but also a poise and a calm. And he had a lot of fun with everyone he met. He had a lot of fun, he just connected," explains Commanday.
A quality that suited him best...
"He was about bringing people together. Listening to Palestinians and Israelis at opposite ends of the political beliefs. Without being patronizing to them. That's what peacemaking is all about."
Stevens served as a diplomat for two decades.
His death, a loss to many more than just his family.
"It's tragic, so deeply saddening," says Commanday. "It also makes us aware of the kind of roles people like Chris, over the years, are playing. Unsung, but critical roles they're playing. Not necessarily soldiers, but on the front line. The front line of a more important front. The most important front, and that's communication."
Commanday says Stevens was guided by American values,inclusion and tolerance.
While those ideals are the exact opposite of the actions that took his step-brother's life.
Commanday's confident Chris Stevens didn't die in vain.
But he says there's only one way to be sure it remains true...to keep all that his step-brother has worked for on the forefront, bringing more peace into the world.
"He would not say, pickup a gun on my behalf," says Commanday of his step-brother. "He would say, talk to your neighbor on my behalf. In memory of me."
Thursday, the deputy interior minister said Libyan authorities have made four arrests in the investigation into the attack that killed the U.S. ambassador.
