
 
 Army Ranger veteran Peter Kassig is shown here delivering aid in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in May 2013. (Photo courtesy the Kassig family) 
 
 The possible next victim of the Islamic State militant group is Army Ranger veteran Peter E. Kassig, who moved to the Middle East to do humanitarian work before being taken hostage. 
 
 Kassig is shown at the end of a video released Friday that depicts the apparent beheading of Alan Henning, a British humanitarian aid worker who was taken hostage in Syria last year. Kassig started a small medical relief company known as Special Emergency Response and Assistance, or SERA, in 2012 that has headquarters in Gaziantep, Turkey, according to the company’s LinkedIn page. The city is close to the Syrian border and a way station of sorts for relief workers and journalists. 
 
 Kassig also was an employee with TYR Solutions LTD, a British firm that provides security and consulting and training for individuals planning to go to war zones, according to his LinkedIn profile. 
 
 Kassig enlisted as an infantryman, and was in the Army from June 2006 to September 2007 before being medically discharged as a private first class, Army officials aid. He was with the Army’s famous 75th Ranger Regiment from October 2006 to September 2007, and deployed with them to Iraq from April to July 2007. 
 
 Kassig said in an interview published by Time magazine last year that he traveled to the Middle East in 2012 after leaving the Army and while on spring break from Butler University in Indiana. He wanted to learn about the humanitarian crisis in Syria firsthand and see what he could do to raise awareness about it. 
 
 In a web page raising funds for his cause, the former soldier said he felt that more could be done to help the Syrians, and thought the most effective way was “through a close connection to those who were in desperate need, by meeting them where they were.” 
 
 “We may not have much but I have always felt that the reasons why you do something are as important as what you do,” he wrote. “This is about making a difference not just through material goods, but also the exchange of ideas and experiences that the interanational [sic] community benefits from through this type of iniative [sic].” 
 
 In a 2012 interview with CNN, Kassig said that he first traveled to the Lebanese capital of Beirut where he studied how complicated the conflict was. He said some people questioned what he was doing. He told CNN he also wondered whether America was doing enough to help, although he didn’t support military intervention. 
 
 “This is real, and it’s scary stuff, and it’s sad what is happening to people here,” he told CNN. “People back home need to know about it, they need to know. Sometimes you gotta take a stand, you gotta draw a line somewhere.” ||||| This is a set of web collections curated by Mark Graham using the Archive-IT service of the Internet Archive. They include web captures of the ISKME.org website as well as captures from sites hosted by IGC.org.These web captures are available to the general public.For more information about this collection please feel free to contact Mark via Send Mail ||||| Kassig Peter Kassig, U.S. Army Ranger turned humanitarian. 
 
 Peter Kassig is a former U.S. Army Ranger who deployed to Iraq in 2007. I met this 24-year-old Indiana native while taking an entry-level Arabic course in Beirut last year. Since then, Peter has gone on to help Syrian refugees in a Lebanese hospital and recently started his own aid group called Special Emergency Response and Assistance — SERA. 
 
 SERA’s main focus right now “is providing Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Syria with medical assistance, medical supplies, and clothing for refugees, and non-perishable food as well as cooking fuel, cooking stoves,” and other supplies, according to its Facebook page. It wants to specialize in bringing in critical supplies to people in particularly dicey circumstances, which is an understatement when used to describe the refugee landscape within Syria. 
 
 There are estimates that there are over 2.5 million internally displaced persons within the country, and nearly 500,000 who have left. 
 
 The group recently finished its first week-and-half-long operation inside Syria. 
 
 With just over $2,000 raised from donations, SERA set out to supply Syrian refugees in the north of the country with blankets. But the group soon realized that was not a pressing need when compared to the increasingly dire food situation. So SERA purchased two cooking stoves, 20 45-kilogram propane fuel tanks, a ton of rice and other food, and loaded it all into a truck its members drove across the border into Syria. They delivered it directly to the people in a Syrian refugee camp, according to Kassig’s debrief on the operation. 
 
 “We learned first-hand through this process just how difficult it is to get supplies into Syria,” Kassig wrote, expressing frustration with delays. “Innocent lives were lost in the days we were in the area of Qah Refugee camp attempting to deliver aid.” 
 
 While pledging to improve their effectiveness, Kassig wrote that he was inspired by the people in the camp: “I did not meet a single man woman or child who could not muster a smile and a message of strength and hope that was nothing short of earth-shatteringly humbling.” 
 
 I asked Kassig a few questions about SERA and why he came back to the Middle East after his time in the Army. 
 
 What drew you to Beirut? 
 
 Originally, I came to Beirut on my spring break from [Butler] University last spring. I was interested in what I could learn about the Syrian crisis firsthand and what I could do to help and raise awareness about the crisis amongst my peers back at home in the United States. I was also interested in learning more about the Middle East in general from a civilian perspective. I wanted to better understand my role in the conflict in Iraq and its impact on the Middle East in general from a personal perspective and from the perspective of the Arab world. I hoped to gain insight into potential paths forward with regards to developing a new and improved relationship between my generation in both the Arab world and in the West. 
 
 What have you been doing during your time in Lebanon? 
 
 I started by travelling as much as possible throughout the country and focusing my efforts on volunteering on a small scale in a Palestinian refugee camp in South Beirut. I wanted to try and understand the full scope of the level of need and what role I could potentially have in meeting that need. I also volunteer in a hospital in Tripoli, Lebanon, offering my services as a trauma medic to Syrian refugees who have been wounded in the fighting in Syria. From these experiences I began the development of my NGO, SERA, which stands for Special Emergency Response and Assistance. I divide by time between my personal volunteer efforts, my organizations relief operations, which include the distribution of aid materials such as medical equipment and children’s clothing, as well as food and cooking materials in both Lebanon and Syria. 
 
 Tell us about your group, Special Emergency Response and Assistance. What does it do and why did you start it? 
 
 I designed Special Emergency Response and Assistance around a belief that there was a lot of room for improvement in terms of how humanitarian organizations interact with and cooperate with the populations that they serve. SERA is focused on the distribution of aid materials to populations with an acute and immediate need. We administer aid in the form of food and cooking materials, medical supplies, and clothing. 
 
 The idea is for SERA to supplement the efforts of larger organizations by focusing on delivering aid materials that can do the most good for the most people over the longest period of time possible. I believe that how and why we do what we do is equal in importance to what we do. It’s about showing people that we care, that someone is looking out for those who might be overlooked or who have slipped through the cracks in the system for whatever reason. 
 
 I started SERA because I felt that we could fill a niche as an organization that had not been filled. There are a lot of other wonderful organizations out there but we feel that by working directly with the people who are in need at a grassroots level allows for us to establish an invaluable personal relationship that not only allows us to effectively distribute material goods but also allows for an opportunity for an increased level of cooperation and an exchange of ideas between people from diverse backgrounds and experiences and that this enhances our ability to accurately meet needs. The personal connection is key. 
 
 Does SERA team up with other organizations to help Syrian refugees? 
 
 Yes. Part of our operational philosophy and founding principles is that there should be no wasted energy or redundancy in the operations we carry out. I believe in working as closely with the population in need as is possible. This allows for us to maximize our transparency and effectiveness of our operations based on the respect for and appreciation of the fact that people have the best understanding of what they need and many times, simply lack the means to carry out the ideas that they already have. 
 
 What would you like to see SERA doing that it isn’t already and what do you need to make that happen? 
 
 I would like to see SERA responding to a variety of needs throughout the region in as short amount of time as possible. Our aim is to be a rapid response organization that can help to fill gaps in supply chains, or assist those who have fallen through the cracks. I would love it for SERA to be able to impact conditions on the ground in places like Lebanon and Syria in a more comprehensive and efficient way. 
 
 To make this a reality we need to make sure we maintain our focus and our drive internally, we also need to make sure we maintain an operational tempo that allows for us to have good visibility on the conditions that the populations we serve are facing. Of course we definitely need more funding. Right now we have very little and so our operational scope is very small. We have the ability to serve much larger populations in a really effective way but we need a stronger budget to be able to conduct these sorts of operations. 
 
 Where do you see yourself in five years? 
 
 That is a good question. I believe that if you are passionate about something and you put the necessary effort into making it work (such as SERA) that it is ultimately up to you how long you can keep it viable. The work speaks for itself to some extent I think. I certainly plan on continuing to try and serve those who are in need for as long as I live. 
 
 The truth is sometimes I really think I would like to do something else, but at the end of the day this work is really the only thing that I have found that gives my life both meaning and direction. In five years, I certainly hope to have seen SERA grow into an international relief organization capable of helping hundreds of thousands of people around the world. I would also like to be able to say that I was able to give something back to everyone who helped along the way. 
 
 This work is important for the message that it sends to people back home, that one of the best aspects of the American way of life is our ability to come together in the face of adversity and to stand beside those who might need a helping hand. In five years, if I can look back on all of this and say that our organization is able to truly help people, that I was able so share a little bit of hope and that I never stopped learning then I will know this all stood for something. 
 
 If people want to help SERA, what’s something they can do? 
 
 We can accept donations at a temporary account at: 
 
 Epworth United Methodist Church 
 
 6450 Allisonville Road 
 
 Indianapolis, IN 46220 
 
 Checks should be made out to Epworth United Methodist Church. In the memo line, people can put either “SERA Relief Effort” or “Peter Kassig Relief Effort.” 
 
 It’s not a religious thing, but my hometown neighborhood set this up for us in the meantime as a transparent and monitored donation system. SERA is a fully incorporated NGO, but our 501c3 [federal non-profit tax status] is still pending. ||||| Story highlights American Peter Kassig, 26, helped treat wounded Syrians 
 
 He served in the U.S. military in Iraq but looked for a "game changer" after returning home 
 
 His parents in Indianapolis, Indiana, confirmed he'd been taken hostage 
 
 Kassig converted to Islam while being held hostage, family says 
 
 Peter Kassig first went to the Middle East as a U.S. soldier and returned as a medical worker, feeling compelled to help victims of war. 
 
 "We each get one life and that's it. We get one shot at this and we don't get any do-overs, and for me, it was time to put up or shut up," he said in a 2012 interview with CNN. 
 
 Now Kassig, 26, is being held hostage by ISIS. 
 
 His life was threatened Friday in an ISIS video that showed the apparent beheading of British aid worker Alan Henning. 
 
 In a statement Friday, Kassig's parents, Ed and Paula Kassig of Indianapolis confirmed that he was being held hostage by ISIS but provided no other details. They had maintained silence about his capture since he was taken hostage in 2013. 
 
 "The Kassig family extends our concern for the family of Alan Henning," Kassig's parents said. "We ask everyone around the world to pray for the Henning family, for our son, and for the release of all innocent people being held hostage in the Middle East and around the globe." 
 
 Joined the Army in 2006 
 
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 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugees board a boat bound for Turkey at a port in Kyrenia, Cyprus, on Sunday, November 23. Some 220 Syrian migrants crammed onto a fishing boat were rescued by a cruise ship off Cyprus' northern coast after their vessel hit rough seas in the Mediterranean Sea, authorities said. Hide Caption 1 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian Kurdish child looks through the ventilation hole of a tent at a camp in Suruc, Turkey, on Wednesday, November 19. Tens of thousands of people fled the Syrian city of Kobani, alson known as Ayn al-Arab, because of the militant group ISIS. Hide Caption 2 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A fly lands on the toe of 8-year-old Mahmut Munir, a Syrian Kurdish refugee boy from Kobani, inside a tent in Suruc on November 19. The boy was reportedly injured in a mortar attack by ISIS militants. Hide Caption 3 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Kurdish children from the Kobani area speak after receiving food rations at a camp in Suruc on Tuesday, November 18. Hide Caption 4 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian Kurdish refugee pins a picture of her son on a wall in Suruc on Tuesday, November 11. She says he died during a battle in Kobani. Hide Caption 5 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian Kurdish refugees collect clothes and shoes donated by civilians at a camp in Suruc on November 11. Hide Caption 6 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian Kurdish refugees sit outside tents at a camp in Suruc on November 11. Hide Caption 7 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian refugee wraps herself in a blanket as she stands near tents near Sanliurfa, Turkey, on Thursday, October 2. Hide Caption 8 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian Kurds wait behind border fences to cross into Suruc on Sunday, September 28. Hide Caption 9 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Kurdish woman crosses into Suruc on Tuesday, September 23. Hide Caption 10 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian Kurdish boy is vaccinated as he arrives in Suruc on September 23. The United Nations estimates that more than 2.5 million Syrians have fled their country since an uprising in March 2011 spiraled into civil war. Hide Caption 11 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A woman carries belongings across the border between Turkey and Syria on September 23. Hide Caption 12 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian refugee watches the sunrise Wednesday, April 2, after sleeping outside the Center for Temporary Stay of Immigrants in Melilla, Spain. Hide Caption 13 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Mustafa Ahmad, who lost his leg in 2011 when government warplanes bombed his neighborhood in Syria, is fitted with a prosthetic leg at a refugee camp Thursday, March 27, in Jib Janine, Lebanon. Hide Caption 14 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East delivered humanitarian aid packages to the Yarmouk refugee camps in Syria on Friday, March 21. Hide Caption 15 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A boy uses a tool to dig a hole at the Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan on Saturday, March 15. Hide Caption 16 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugees enter Turkey via the Cilvegozu border gate in Hatay, Turkey, on Saturday, January 18. Hide Caption 17 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian children cross the border at the Cilvegozu gate on January 18. Hide Caption 18 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian children walk on the street after attending school January 18 in Hatay. Hide Caption 19 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A child looks through a window while food and aid is distributed at a refugee center in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Tuesday, December 17. Hide Caption 20 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A man feeds his child in the Arsal refugee camp in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley on Sunday, December 15. Hide Caption 21 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian children play with snow in the Arsal refugee camp on December 15. Hide Caption 22 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Snow covers the ground at a refugee camp in Arsal on Friday, December 13. Hide Caption 23 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Young Syrian refugees build a snowman following a storm in the Lebanese village of Baaloul on Thursday, December 12. Hide Caption 24 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugee widow Ikhlas Halawani feeds her daughter breakfast during a snowstorm in Amman, Jordan, on December 12. Hide Caption 25 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – After crossing into Jordan's Ruweished camp on Thursday, December 5, a Syrian boy searches for his mother while other refugees board a Jordanian military vehicle. Hide Caption 26 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Newly arrived Syrian refugees carry their belongings and children after crossing into Jordan's Ruweished camp on December 5. Hide Caption 27 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugees wait in line to receive winter aid kits at the Zaatari refugee camp near Mafraq, Jordan, on Tuesday, December 3. Hide Caption 28 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Refugees watch a new trailer being placed in the Zaatari camp on December 3. Hide Caption 29 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian child looks out from his tent at a refugee camp in Arsal on Friday, November 29. Hide Caption 30 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A girl crosses a puddle during the first snowfall of the season in a refugee camp in Harmanli, Bulgaria, on Wednesday, November 27. Hide Caption 31 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Young Syrian refugees play at the recently opened Vrazhdebna shelter in Sofia on Friday, November 22. Hide Caption 32 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugees warm themselves near open fires at a refugee camp in Harmanli on Thursday, November 21. Hide Caption 33 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugees go about their daily lives in an Istanbul park on Sunday, November 3. Hide Caption 34 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian refugee uses a rope to climb a tree at the Vrazhdebna shelter on Tuesday, October 29. Hide Caption 35 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugees are turned back after being refused entry into northern Iraq on Wednesday, October 23. Hide Caption 36 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Refugees wait to get medical attention at the Vrazhdebna shelter on Saturday, October 19. The shelter is a former school. Hide Caption 37 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian refugee begs with her children on a street in Beirut, Lebanon, on Friday, October 18. Hide Caption 38 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Kurdish women grieve during a visit to a cemetery in Derik, Syria, on Tuesday, October 15. Hide Caption 39 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Young Syrian refugees from Aleppo sit with their mother on the steps of a Beirut bank in September 2013. Hide Caption 40 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Two Syrian refugees sit on a Beirut street in September 2013. Hide Caption 41 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Young Syrian refugees sit with their father as he prepares coffee to sell on a street in Beirut in September 2013. Hide Caption 42 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian refugee boy practices taekwondo at the Zaatari refugee camp near Mafraq in September 2013. Hide Caption 43 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A young Syrian girl washes a pan at the Atme refugee camp along the Turkish border in September 2013. Hide Caption 44 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugee children watch Korean and Syrian taekwondo instructors during training at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan in September 2013. Hide Caption 45 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian woman carries her baby across the border into Turkey at the Cilvegozu border gate in September 2013. Hide Caption 46 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian girl stands with her mother in a makeshift tent as they wait to enter an official refugee camp at the Oncupinar border gate in Kilis, Turkey, in September 2013. Hide Caption 47 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian girl eats a tomato at a temporary refugee camp in the eastern Lebanese town of al-Faour in September 2013. Hide Caption 48 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian refugee girl drinks water from a hose near a temporary refugee camp in an eastern Lebanese town in September 2013. Hide Caption 49 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – In September 2013, Lower Saxony's Commissioner for Migration and Participation Doris Schroeder-Koempf, along with German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, center, greet the first of many Syrian refugees that have been granted temporary asylum in Germany. Hide Caption 50 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A refugee boy sits on the ground at a temporary refugee camp in the eastern Lebanese town of al-Faour in September 2013. Hide Caption 51 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugee children run near their tents at a temporary refugee camp near the Lebanese border in September 2013. Hide Caption 52 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Mustafa Abu Bekir, who was wounded while fighting with the Free Syrian Army, smiles as he meets relatives after crossing the Cilvegozu gate border in Turkey's Hatay province in September 2013. Hide Caption 53 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian refugee family of 26 people shares one room in the Eminonu district of Istanbul in September 2013. Hide Caption 54 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Two Syrian refugee children sit outside a house in Istanbul in September 2013. Hide Caption 55 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A refugee money-changer exchanges currency at the main market at the Zaatari refugee camp near Mafraq in September 2013. Hide Caption 56 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A woman from an Alawite neighborhood in Syria holds her son in September 2013 at the Pir Sultan Abdal foundation in Istanbul. Hide Caption 57 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian refugee displays second-hand shoes for sale at the main market at the Zaatari refugee camp near Mafraq in September 2013. Hide Caption 58 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Photos: Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugees arrive at the Pir Sultan Abdal foundation in Istanbul in September 2013. Hide Caption 59 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugee workers fix cart wheels at their shop at the Zaatari refugee camp in September 2013. Hide Caption 60 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian boy sits beside his family's belongings in September 2013 as they wait for a vehicle to pick them up after entering Turkey. Hide Caption 61 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugees who failed to find shelters at a refugee camp eat and rest by the side of a road a few feet away in September 2013. Hide Caption 62 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugees arrive at the Turkish border gate of Cilvegozu in September 2013. Hide Caption 63 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Photos: Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugees gather in the village of Salkin after crossing the Syrian-Turkish border in September 2013. Hide Caption 64 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A young Syrian refugee boy sells canned tuna and other food items in the Zaatari refugee camp in September 2013. Hide Caption 65 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Children run past tents at a Syrian refugee camp in Yayladagi, Turkey, in September 2013. Hide Caption 66 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A child pulls a suitcase as Syrian refugees arrive at the Cilvegozu crossing gate in Turkey in August 2013. Hide Caption 67 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A family arrives at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan in August 2013. Hide Caption 68 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian girl stands behind a fence at Bulgaria's shelter near Lyubimets in August 2013. Hide Caption 69 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A wounded Syrian child is treated in August 2013 at the Israeli Ziv hospital, which is in the northern town of Safed, Israel. Hide Caption 70 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian Kurdish man carries a mattress at sunset at the Quru Gusik refugee camp in Iraq in August 2013. Hide Caption 71 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugees listen to safety instructions at the Quru Gusik refugee camp in August 2013. Hide Caption 72 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugees walk at the Zaatari refugee camp in July 2013. Hide Caption 73 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – The expanse of the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, as seen from an aerial view in July 2013. The camp was opened on July 28, 2012. Hide Caption 74 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugee children walk in the Bab al-Salam refugee camp in Syria's northern city of Azaz in July 2013. Hide Caption 75 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A boy walks with jugs of water in a Beirut neighborhood with a high concentration of Syrian refugees. Hide Caption 76 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian refugees stand with their belongings on June 20, World Refugee Day, at Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. Hide Caption 77 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian woman and child look out of a refugee camp window in Alman, Lebanon, in June 2013. Hide Caption 78 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A child whose family fled violence in Syria stands at the Arsal refugee camp in Lebanon in June 2013. Hide Caption 79 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A woman uses a fence to dry laundry at the Domiz refugee camp near Kohuk, Iraq, in May 2013. Hide Caption 80 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A boy carries a jug for water at the Maliber al-Salam refugee camp in April 2013. The camp, near the Turkish border, houses internally displaced Syrian families. Hide Caption 81 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A makeshift refugee camp is seen near Syria's border with Turkey in April 2013. Hide Caption 82 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Row after row of temporary shelters fill the Maiber al-Salam refugee camp in Syria in April 2013. Hide Caption 83 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria arrive at the Jordanian border in February 2013. Hide Caption 84 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian girl stands at the entrance of a makeshift home near ruins in Serjilla, Syria, in February 2013. Hide Caption 85 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – The Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, near the Syrian border. Hide Caption 86 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A refugee collects apples and some bread at the Azaz refugee camp along the Syrian-Turkish border. Hide Caption 87 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A refugee visits a clinic with his child at the Azaz refugee camp in February 2013. Hide Caption 88 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A child gets a haircut at a makeshift barbershop at the Azaz refugee camp in February 2013. Hide Caption 89 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian girl looks through the window of a bus where she has lived with her family for the past eight months in February 2013. Hide Caption 90 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Clothes dry at the Qah refugee camp near the Turkish border in January 2013. Hide Caption 91 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A man shows off his pet birds as new Syrian refugees arrive at the Zaatari refugee camp in January 2013. Hide Caption 92 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrian children gather around women washing in the Zaatari refugee camp in January 2013. Hide Caption 93 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – Syrians put up tents at the Zaatari refugee camp in January 2013. Hide Caption 94 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees supplied tents in Al-Marj, Lebanon. Hide Caption 95 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian boy attends school in the Turkish town of Kilis in December 2012. Hide Caption 96 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – A Syrian jumps across the border into Turkey's Sanliurfa province in November 2012. Hide Caption 97 of 98 98 photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis Syria's refugee crisis – In November 2012, a Syrian refugee waits at a hairdresser's shop inside the Oncupinar camp in Kilis, Turkey. Hide Caption 98 of 98 
 
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 Kassig's journey began when he joined the U.S. Army Rangers in 2006 and deployed to Iraq in 2007. He was honorably discharged for medical reasons after a brief tour and returned to the United States to study political science and train for 1,500-meter races. But something wasn't right. 
 
 "I was going to school with kids who look the same, were the same age as me, but we weren't the same," he said. "I wanted more of a challenge, a sense of purpose." 
 
 In 2010, Kassig took time off and began his certification as an emergency medical technician. 
 
 In the two years that followed, he fell in love, got married and quickly divorced. Devastated and heartbroken, he went back to school, but he couldn't shake his depression. 
 
 "I needed a game changer," he said. 
 
 He decided he would head to Beirut, follow the situation in Syria and try to help. So, on his spring break this year he packed his medical kit and flew into the Lebanese capital. 
 
 The next two weeks were filled with eye-opening misadventures as Kassig began to scratch the surface of the complexities of the Syrian conflict and the Middle East as a whole. 
 
 Founded a humanitarian aid organization 
 
 "I had learned enough to know that I didn't know anything," he said. 
 
 After finishing the semester back in the United States, he returned to Lebanon, only this time with a plan. 
 
 "The way I saw it, I didn't have a choice. This is what I was put here to do. I guess I am just a hopeless romantic, and I am an idealist, and I believe in hopeless causes." 
 
 Kassig founded SERA (Special Emergency Response and Assistance), a nongovernmental organization. In summer 2013 he moved its base of operations to Gaziantep, Turkey. 
 
 Kassig's family said SERA was dedicated to providing first-response humanitarian aid for refugees fleeing the widening civil war in Syria. Kassig found and delivered food and medical supplies to the growing camps on both sides of the Syrian border, his family said, and provided primary trauma care and trauma care training to civilian casualties inside Syria. 
 
 "I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse," he said in the 2012 interview. "But I am a guy who can clean up bandages, help clean up patients, swap out bandages, help run IVs, make people's quality of life a little bit better. This is something for me that has meaning, that has purpose." 
 
 He was undertaking a project for SERA when he was "detained" on October 1, 2013, on his way to Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, according to his family's statement. 
 
 "For the past year, the Kassig family has maintained silence at the wish of those who have held their son," the family statement said. "His family, along with friends and colleagues inside and outside Syria, have worked tirelessly, and quietly, to secure his release." 
 
 Converted to Islam 
 
 Kassig's family said he converted to Islam while being held hostage and now goes by Abdul-Rahman. 
 
 The family said it "understands from speaking to former hostages that Kassig's faith has provided him comfort during his long captivity." 
 
 While working in hospitals, some of those Kassig helped treat were rebel fighters, all who vowed they would return to the battlefield as soon as they could. 
 
 Others were the innocent victims of a spiraling conflict. 
 
 One patient, 24-year-old Louliya, said she and her three children were run over by a military jeep as they tried to escape the Syrian military siege of their village. Her spinal cord was crushed, leaving her unable to move from the neck down. She was smuggled across the border to Lebanon for surgery. 
 
 She smiled bravely but was unable to stop the tears from rolling down her face. 
 
 "All I want is to be able to hold my children in my arms again," she said softly, trying but failing to imitate the cradling of a child. 
 
 He bonded with doctors, patients 
 
 Kassig said his direct exposure to what was something of an alien conflict and culture before transformed his perspective. 
 
 "There is this mentality from where I come from back home that I have a little bit of a problem with," he said. "I don't want to get on a political soap box, but at the same time we have to think about why as a country we choose to help certain people and not others. 
 
 "We have to think about why we just chalk up the Middle East [as] this complex enigma that we will never understand because they are so different from us. But at the end of the day, they are really not. It's just about whether or not you're willing to go out on a limb and understand something," he said. 
 
 "Peter can tell the American people who we are," said Marwan, a Syrian nurse he worked with. "We are not what the regime says we are -- terrorists and al Qaeda. Peter knows we are good people, who love joking and laughter. We just want to live." 
 
 Kassig was struck by the resilience of the Syrians he met, by their ability to smile and somehow joke even in the darkest of circumstances. 
 
 "This is real, and it's scary stuff, and it's sad what is happening to people here," he said. "People back home need to know about it, they need to know. Sometimes you gotta take a stand, you gotta draw a line somewhere."
– In its latest execution video, ISIS threatened that its next victim would be an American aid worker named Peter Kassig. The 26-year-old is a former Army Ranger from Indiana who served in Iraq in 2007 before being honorably discharged for medical reasons, reports CNN. He enrolled at Butler University upon his return to the US, but traveled to Libya on his spring break to learn about the Syria crisis. "I wanted more of a challenge, more of a purpose," he told the network in a 2012 interview. Eventually, Kassig decided to stay full time to do humanitarian work and founded a relief group called the Special Emergency Response and Assistance, reports the Washington Post. In the last few years, he has been delivering food and medical supplies to refugees from the Syrian conflict. Kassig's parents today released a YouTube video pleading for his release. They refer to their son as "Abdul-Rahman, formerly known as Peter." The Kassigs have previously said that their son converted to Islam while in captivity. A few quotes from Kassig, from CNN and from an interview last year with Time: “This is real, and it’s scary stuff, and it’s sad what is happening to people here. People back home need to know about it, they need to know. Sometimes you gotta take a stand, you gotta draw a line somewhere.” "I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse. But I am a guy who can clean up bandages, help clean up patients, swap out bandages, help run IVs, make people's quality of life a little bit better. This is something for me that has meaning, that has purpose." "In five years, if I can look back on all of this and say that our organization is able to truly help people, that I was able so share a little bit of hope, and that I never stopped learning, then I will know this all stood for something."