--- description: An Army Ranger-turned-aid worker held hostage by ISIS militants in Syria admitted to his parents he was “pretty scared to die” but also urged them... title: American ISIS Hostage: ‘I’m Pretty Scared to Die’ image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb19ce6054d6af5ad/6986a722810bbb6b91c93cb8/kassig-hostage-isis-islamic-state.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Terrorism](/tag/terrorism/) ## Terrorism Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # American ISIS Hostage: 'I'm Pretty Scared to Die' by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 6, 2014 11:23 AM CUT  This undated photo provided by Kassig Family shows Peter Kassig standing in front of a truck filled with supplies for Syrian refugees. This undated photo provided by Kassig Family shows Peter Kassig standing in front of a truck filled with supplies for Syrian refugees.AP by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 6, 2014 11:23 AM CUT An [Army Ranger-turned-aid worker](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/american-captive-threatened-isis-video-wanted-prove-we-care-n218181 "undefined") held hostage by ISIS militants in Syria admitted to his parents he was “pretty scared to die” but also urged them to “seek refuge and comfort” from his humanitarian work. Abdul-Rahman Kassig — who was born Peter but changed his name when he converted to Islam last year — wrote in a letter received by his parents on June 2 he was “praying every day” in captivity but was “not angry.” He added: “I am in a dogmatically complicated situation here, but I am at peace with my belief.” Excerpts from his heartfelt letter were [released in a statement late Sunday](https://twitter.com/kassigfamily/status/518930663060144128 "undefined") by his parents… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/isis-hostage-abdul-rahman-kassig-im-pretty-scared-die-n219081?cid=par-time-article%5F20141006 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3474503/peter-kassig/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3474503/peter-kassig/"},"headline":"American ISIS Hostage: 'I'm Pretty Scared to Die'","datePublished":"2014-10-06T11:23:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:36:09.023Z","description":"An Army Ranger-turned-aid worker held hostage by ISIS militants in Syria admitted to his parents he was “pretty scared to die” but also urged them...","url":"https://time.com/3474503/peter-kassig/","keywords":["Terrorism"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb19ce6054d6af5ad/6986a722810bbb6b91c93cb8/kassig-hostage-isis-islamic-state.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb19ce6054d6af5ad/6986a722810bbb6b91c93cb8/kassig-hostage-isis-islamic-state.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Islamic State Hostage Peter Kassig","caption":"Islamic State Hostage Peter Kassig","creditText":"AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/terrorism/","name":"Terrorism"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3474503/peter-kassig/","name":"American ISIS Hostage: 'I'm Pretty Scared to Die'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS","description":"A growing number of foreigners is joining the Islamic militant group - but why?","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xvTQSd5R/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-09-05T19:18:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xvTQSd5R.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3474503/peter-kassig/","duration":"PT2M58S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3474503/peter-kassig/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```