James Wright Foley was an American journalist and video reporter. Working as a freelance war correspondent covering the Syrian civil war, he was abducted on November 22, 2012 in northwestern Syria. In August 2014, Foley was the first American citizen to be killed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS). The world was shocked to learn of his beheading.

Foley began his career as a teacher and was an instructor for Teach for America. He changed his career to photojournalism, with a desire to show the world the ravages and consequences of war. He helped organize conferences and training seminars for a program designed to rebuild Iraq’s civil service, crippled by decades of isolation and autocratic administration.

He was an embedded journalist with US troops in Iraq, and in 2011, while working for the Boston-based GlobalPost, Foley went to Libya to cover the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, embedding himself with rebel fighters. Along with three other journalists, one of whom was killed, Foley was captured and released forty-four days later. Despite his capture and return home, he went back to Libya and was present at the capture of Muammar Gaddafi. Foley credited his Catholic faith in getting him through his detainment and the death of friends. He strongly believed that journalism was necessary so that people could see “how bad the world could be.”

James Wright Foley was born October 18, 1973 and died August 19, 2014.

James 3 Communicator, journalist, videographer, optimistic

Wright 4 Tireless worker, builder, practical implementor

Foley 9 World traveler, interested in global events, humanitarian, spiritual

Destiny 16/7 Karma of “the outside observer,” deep thinker, potential for research and under-cover work, spiritually inclined

Heart's Desire 8 Professional, able to deal with authorities, ability to fit in with military embedding (especially with the deeply secretive 16/7)

Personality 8 Professional, pragmatic, powerful, determined, meets authorities at their level

Day of Birth 18/9 Global interests, traveler, interest in culture, education, politics, humanitarian efforts

Birth Path 3 Communicator, idea person, videographer, photojournalist

Realization/Achievement 1 Original life; pioneer; independent thinker; recognized by many

Foley's Grid has the Line of Achievement. His two Ruling Passions are ONE and FIVE, emphasizing his originality (three 1's) and desire to seek change and reform (three 5's). Interestingly, his interests in teaching shows up in two 6's, and his Catholic faith and desire to investigate shows up in his two 7's.