A Peace Corps volunteer in Iran
Sixty years ago I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Iran. I worked in the Iranian Community Development office where, working with the Iranian development staff, we helped local villages construct schools, water works, and other public facilities. During my two years of service, I learned to speak Farsi and to appreciate the depths of Iranian friendship, hospitality and traditions. As a Peace Corps Volunteer I met and lived among Iranians of all classes—from impoverished villagers, to school teachers, to military and government officials. I experienced Iran’s rich culture and traveled the country from end to end.
Our country has sometimes been a strong ally and sometimes a foolish enemy of the Iranian people’s aspirations for a better life of dignity, freedom and prosperity. Today, our country has chosen to start a war with Iran, launched in defiance of American laws and the Constitution. Lives are being lost and billions of dollars are being wasted that could be used to improve the lives of people in our own country. Unfortunately, the war is also destabilizing the US and world economy as well.
I am deeply sympathetic to the aspirations of ordinary Iranians looking for a government that reflects the values animated in recent anti-government demonstrations demanding women’s rights, life and freedom. It pains me to see a country with a sophisticated culture much older than ours, being governed by extremist clerics, the military and self-seeking Iranians. Attacking Iran for no rational reason except on the whims of an egocentric president will not help Iran join a world of peace and freedom and certainly will not add to our security.
When President John Kennedy establish the Peace Corp in 1961, he was reflecting the better part of ‘we the American people’. I think we can, and should, bring out the better part of ourselves once again.