Posted on 11/27/2004 11:06:25 AM PST by NicoleGTalum
Atlantan slain on street in Iraq Tireless volunteer found his calling as U.S. diplomat on education mission
By BILL TORPY The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 11/26/04
In 2002, Jim Mollen of Dunwoody worked tirelessly for Hands on Atlanta to line up volunteers for dozens of public service projects on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
"I enjoy going out and performing the service on the front line," Mollen told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
At the time, "front line" was a figure of speech. On Wednesday, Mollen, 48, was shot to death in Baghdad as he drove back alone to the Green Zone, the heavily fortified area where most foreigners stay.
Mollen, a former information technology professional at Coca-Cola, was the U.S. Embassy's senior consultant to the Iraqi ministers of education. His mission was to help rebuild Iraq's universities and other higher learning institutions.
"The circumstances of his death says he wasn't going to hide and phone it in from the Green Zone," said a brother, Tim Mollen. "He felt what's the point of being there if you stay there in a secure bunker?"
Mollen was the second U.S. diplomat killed in Baghdad since Iraq's interim government assumed power in June. Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a statement that "Jim dedicated his life to a noble cause: improving the quality of education for thousands of Iraqis."
Mollen, who had longed to perform substantive foreign service work, was upbeat about his Iraq mission until the recent spate of kidnappings and beheadings, said Steve Schultz, a friend in DeKalb County. Although rattled by the violence, he sometimes left the Green Zone without armed guards "because he felt the escorts made him more of a target," Schultz said.
The rest of the article is at http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/atlanta/1104/27mollen.html
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
There were articles about him at pressconnects.com. His family was from or living in Vestal,NY. Tragic loss...
The best thing about Jim was that he was just a regular guy who loved Bush and wanted him to run in 2000. we hooked up via a web group (Bush 2000 - started by Patrick Ruffini who has done work for Michael Barone). He just got active and then catapulted himself into politics. A trum gem of a guy.
Prayers up.
My sincere condolences. Another good person falls victim to those he was trying to help. Very sad.
Did you see this?
I sent you an email asking you if you saw this - do you remember meeting me at one of the fundraisers/rallies that Bush had? Jim had gotten me in to all those things. I remember how he always was helping others - he was always busy doing things for charities. what a shame.
The pressconnect links break after 7 days. Go figure.
Sorry to hear about his death.
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