
Imagine Being Abandoned After Serving Your Country for 28 Years: The Bob Levinson Story
Yesterday the U.S. government offered a reward of $20 million for information about Robert Levinson, an American citizen who was taken hostage in Iran over 4,620 days ago (that’s over 11 years ago! Before the iPhone was released!!). He is considered to be the longest held hostage in American history.
Did you hear about this? Have you even heard of Robert Levinson?
The fact that most people would say “no” to both of these questions saddens me. And I can only imagine how much it frustrates his family. How would you feel if your loved one who served their country for 20+ years was taken hostage overseas and your government did nothing about it for over a decade?
Who is Robert Levinson?
The media will tell you that Robert (Bob) Levinson is a retired FBI agent who travelled to Kish Island (which is off the coast of Iran) in 2007, while doing contract work for the CIA. (By the way, it took several years for this last part to be revealed to the public.) This is all true — but there’s so much more to him.
Bob Levinson is a family man. An incredibly devoted father, husband, brother, son, cousin and friend. He has been married to the love of his life, Christine, for 45 years. Together they have seven children and many grandchildren (all but one were born after he disappeared, so he has never met them).
Having seven kids meant one-on-one time with dad was rare. But Bob made his kids feel so special — giving each one of them several adorable and embarrassing nicknames, from Turtle and Memmo to Bugga Bird and Lumpy. He loves his kids so much, and it’s obvious how much they love him.
To learn more about Bob — what he was like as an FBI agent, what led him to go to Kish Island, and what his family and friends have done to try and get him home — I urge you to listen to the below.
What would be really helpful is if you share his story with your friends and family. You can share this article, the link to this audio story, the family’s website, anything. The more people that learn about Bob, the more pressure the U.S. government may feel to bring him home.
Thanksgiving is in 23 days. Bob has missed the past 12 Thanksgivings. I don’t want him to have to miss another one.
