I was chargé d’affaires (in charge of the embassy in the absence of the ambassador) of our embassy in a west African capital in the seventies when the country was invaded by a mercenary group. It was a difficult time for us (fortunately only lasted a few days) because the telephones had been cut by the local government, and with a very limited embassy staff I was trying to accomplish two things as soon as I heard the shooting and explosions: account for the safety of all American citizens and report to Washington.

Anyway, the point of this story is that I had instructed all official Americans to stay at home and use the embassy radio net to keep in contact. I was at home too, (why go into the office when the only person there was a communicator?) and was telling my kids what they were hearing: “that’s an HK, that’s a 9mm pistol, that’s an AK-47, that’s an anti-tank rocket” all based on distinctive sounds of the various weapons (and yes, they do sound different.)

And as I was trying to sort out official business (it was a Sunday) and take care of the family at the same time, I told the kids to stay under the dinner table because I thought it was the only place in the house that would be safe from breaking glass if we were hit by something. We still didn’t know, after all, who had invaded or what their intentions were.

Then I got back to calling all the official Americans one after another and asking them to check on any non-official citizens they knew. It was a few hours of intense radio back-and-forth, and at one point I was listening to a report from one of our officers when I heard a loud noise in the street outside our house. Still on the radio, I spun and called out “what was that?”

My six year old daughter yelled back “it’s nothing, Dad, just an AK-47.” Talk about sang froid! Kids are very tough.

I think very few people believe children are resilient no matter what. They are often resilient, however, after trauma, if they are given lots of love and support. In the video it’s clear that these children are receiving that love and support – which doesn’t mean there won’t be lingering repercussions from their terrible experiences. But they probably will be strong enough to have good lives nevertheless, because of the strong and loving family that is now raising them.

I believe it’s a lie some people tell themselves because they have to

Indeed, but also the power of genes.
Aunt and niece show a remarkable resemblance….