I learned to swim at the U.S. Embassy swimming pool in Niamey, Niger, in 1976. Little did I know, that would lead to a career as a U.S. Navy diver.
It wasn’t pool parties, picnics or watching movies at the Recreation Center, the only entertainment in a country that didn’t have television, that prompted my 25-year career as a special operations officer. It was the Marines from the Security Guard Detachment that stood watch at the embassy all day, every day.
Even though they were fun during picnics or dressing up as elves to escort Santa riding on a camel at Christmas, under those smiles were steely-eyed warriors. There was no question that they would put their lives on the line to protect us. I knew I wanted to be like them by standing watch over the country that gave my family a second chance.
U.S. embassies are considered sovereign U.S. territory. Even police officers from the host nation cannot come aboard without authorization from the U.S. ambassador, the direct representative of the president of the United States. My family learned this just a year earlier as we escaped Vietnam.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/biden-surrenders-america-sixth-time