Background
Holland, Fern was born on August 5, 1970 in Miami, Oklahoma, United States.
Holland, Fern was born on August 5, 1970 in Miami, Oklahoma, United States.
In 1992, she graduated from the University of Oklahoma. In 1996, she graduated from the University of Tulsa College of Law.
Holland died on March 9, 2004 while working for the Coalition Provisional Authority (Certified Public Accountants) in Iraq. After birth she lived in Bluejacket, Oklahoma, which is a small town between Vinita and Miami, Oklahoma. After graduation, she worked at two law firms in Tulsa before joining the Peace Corps and traveling to Namibia.
In July 2003, Fern was hired by the United States Agency for International Development (United States Agency for International Development) to investigate human rights abuses under Saddam Hussein"s regime.
She was part of that agency’s Abuse Prevention Unit, whose purpose is to protect victims of abuse occurring during times of war or conflict. At the conclusion of her tour with United States Agency for International Development, she was retained by the Coalition Provisional Authority to help Iraqis establish a democratic form of government.
Holland, American press officer Robert J. Zangas, and their Iraqi translator Salwa Ourmashi were shot in their car on a road near Karbala on March 9, 2004. Their killers wore Iraqi police uniforms.
According to reports, she and Zangas were the first American civilians working for the Certified Public Accountants to be killed in Iraq, The New York Times Magazine reports interviews indicate she was intentionally targeted for murder by those threatened by her empowerment of women.
These interviews also reflect that for many Certified Public Accountants staff this was a turning point in the war when Western civilians could no longer travel without guns. American investigators are trying to determine whether that money was stolen as part of a web of bribery, kickbacks, theft and conspiracy that they have laid out in a series of indictments and court papers. Number suspicion for the missing money has fallen on Mississippi
Holland or Mr.
Zangas. Legacy
The novel Florence of Arabia by Christopher Buckley includes an homage to Holland in its acknowledgments. In 2005, Holland was named Oklahoman of the Year.
The award honors a leader who takes tremendous risk to promote peace and defend the human rights of a targeted or vulnerable community.