Tom Fox was an unlikely hero. After graduating from Peabody College in 1973, he spent two decades playing clarinet for the United States Marine Band. As a Quaker he became a committed peace activist, and in September 2004 he went to Iraq with a group from Christian Peacemaker Teams, a Chicago-based violence-reduction program.

On Nov. 26, 2005, Tom Fox and three of his fellow peacemakers were kidnapped in Baghdad. Fox's body was found near a west Baghdad railroad line on March 9, 2006. There were gunshot wounds in his head and chest, and police said the body showed signs of torture.

Reprinted here are edited excerpts from Tom's blog, "Waiting in the Light."