I came here as a refugee. Then I rebuilt the Pentagon after 9/11

MY story is a simple one that starts in Libya and winds through to the Pentagon.

When World War II ended, my parents fled the repressive regime in Libya, just after the state of Israel was founded and as Libyan Arabs turned on Jews in their own neighbourhoods. It was not until 1957 that they were finally able to acquire visas to enter the United States.

Along the way, they lived in Tunisia and Italy - where my older sister and I were born - and soon after arriving in New York, had their third child. My father was a tailor with a partial grade-school education, and it was through the support of a refugee agency that my parents were able to set foot in this country. I still recall the excitement of his first glance at the Statue of Liberty as our ship sailed into New York harbour. I was only six.