From a story on politico.com by Casey Michel headlined “The Time Russians Really Did Target Americans With Microwaves”:

When James Schumaker first pulled up at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in 1977, he was a young, fresh-faced foreign service officer, eager to add to America’s diplomatic heft in the Soviet Union. As he later remembered, he was more focused on using his background as a Russian translator to help the U.S. in the Cold War, and less concerned with things like personal health and safety.

“When you’re that age, you’re immortal and you’re going to live forever, and nothing affects you,” Schumaker said.