Lee Shapiro

Celia Roomet
October 12, 2008

21 years ago in October our dear brother Lee Shapiro was killed in Afghanistan while filming a documentary on Soviet occupation and the plight of the Afghan people. He was part of the CAUSA International team and had previously traveled with the Nicaraguan resistance forces directing an award-winning documentary entitled Nicaragua was our Home. It was the type of documentary that could bring anyone to tears.

I remember Lee very well. I was part of the CAUSA team when he was. He was one of the most creative people I've known, an independent thinker and had a great laugh. His sense of mission to speak out for the oppressed was remarkable. I remember one time he spoke about his film in a college campus, and the room was at full capacity, but anti-Moon and communist students had crowded in and tried to harass Lee with hostile questions and comments. Lee stood his ground with great wit. When he left for Afghanistan I have to confess I had a lot of trepidation, but Lee was not daunted. I said to him jokingly, "come back in one piece!" He just laughed that great laugh of his.

Lee was proclaimed a martyr by True Father, and he has a historic legacy at the congressional level, in the film circles, but most of all as a son of God and True Parents. God bless Lee, and Linda, and the whole family.