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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Photos: Photos: Syria's refugee crisis 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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."