I saw a true American hero tonight. Colonel Ann Wright.

North Carolina - Colonel (Ret.) Ann Wright is bringing her book tour to North Carolina May 18-23. “Dissent: Voices of Conscience” co-authored with Susan Dixon, tells the stories of the many government employees, who risked careers, reputations, and even freedom to speak out against the official deceptions that led to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. During the run-up to war in Iraq, Army Colonel (Ret.) and diplomat Ann Wright resigned her State Department post. She was one among dozens of government insiders and active-duty military personnel, who leaked documents, spoke out, resigned, or refused to deploy in protest of government actions they felt were illegal. Now she is bringing her story and those of others in her new book to locations around North Carolina, including Asheville, Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Pittsboro and Wilmington (schedule to follow). Interviews are available on request.

Ann Wright resigned from the U.S. Foreign Service on March 19, 2003, while serving as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Mongolia. She resigned due to her disagreement with the Bush administration's decision to go to war in Iraq without the authorization of the UN Security Council, the lack of effort in resolving the Israel-Palestinian situation, the lack of policy on North Korea and unnecessary curtailment of civil liberties in the United States. Ms. Wright joined the Foreign Service in 1987 and served as Deputy Chief of Mission of US Embassies in Sierra Leone, Micronesia and briefly in Afghanistan. She received the State Department's Award for Heroism for her actions during the evacuation of 2500 persons from the civil war in Sierra Leone, the largest evacuation since the evacuation of Saigon in 1974.

Ms. Wright was on the first State Department team to go to Kabul, Afghanistan. She helped reopen the US Embassy in Kabul in December, 2001 and worked in Afghanistan for five months, serving in the last month as Deputy Chief of Mission (Deputy Ambassador). Before entering the Foreign Service, she served in the Army and has a combined regular Army/Army Reserve service time of 29 years. She served primarily in special operations units and attained the rank of colonel. Colonel Wright is airborne qualified.

Ms. Wright has Master's and Law Degrees from the University of Arkansas and a Master's Degree in National Security Affairs from the US Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island. Ms. Wright has been featured in articles in the Washington Post magazine, Government Executive magazine, Foreign Service Journal, Ms Magazine and has been interviewed by radio and TV networks. She participated in the documentary film "Uncovered: The Truth About the Iraq War”. Ms. Wright lives in Honolulu, Hawaii. She writes on current US foreign policy and speaks to university classes and civic groups in the United States and internationally.