Today is a day that we're hearing a lot of September 11th stories. Mishy Lesser has one of her own. But hers stretches back 35 years.
On September 11, 1973, Chile's military overthrew the democratically elected president, Salvador Allende. Allende died in the coup. Thousands of others were tortured and killed in the months and years that followed.
Chile was a treacherous place for anyone who supported Allende's socialist government -- or opposed the military regime of General Augusto Pinochet.
Mishy Lesser and Laura Allende, New York, 1976
That included some Americans. Mishy Lesser went to Chile in 1971 as a 19-year-old student. She was inspired by the social change she saw following Allende's election, so she decided to stay. She found work in an urban shantytown. She and a group of other Americans started a magazine called FIN that was highly critical of US foreign policy.
Mishy Lesser, Santiago, 1972
Shortly after the coup, two of them were rounded up by the military and murdered -- Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi.
Declassified documents later revealed the US government was likely complicit in their deaths. At that time, Mishy Lesser realized she was also in danger.
With the help of friends, she found shelter with a family in Santiago. The family hid her for three weeks and helped her get out of the country. They also hid her Chilean boyfriend, Chico.
For nearly 35 years, Mishy Lesser didn't know what had happened to the family. But late last year, she made contact again. She learned that the husband died in August 2007, but that the wife, Carmencita, was still alive.
Mishy Lesser, 2007
So earlier this year, Mishy flew to Chile and took a bus to visit Carmencita to find out why she risked her life to save a stranger.
