Kidnapped U.S. contractor Thomas Hamill has been found safe after nearly three weeks of captivity, he escaped his captors almost a month after being
kidnapped. This is bound to become a story of personal perseverence over extremely difficult circumstances, Mr Hamill captured April 9 during an
attack on a supply convoy he was driving in, appeared on a video produced by his captors and 2 days prior was filmed by an ABC news crew. There had
been no word on his fate since the video released on April 10, Showed Hamill standing in front of an Iraqi flag. An insurgent heard on the tape said
they would kill him within 12 hours unless the United States lifted the siege of Fallujah.The April 9 attack had a very heavy toll: besides Hamill,
seven other employees of the Halliburton subsidary KBR - formerly known as Kellogg, Brown & Root - and another U.S. solder were missing.
CNN
BAGHDAD, Iraq. An American contractor, missing since a convoy attack last month, was recovered and is in good health after escaping from his captors,
U.S. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt announced Sunday.
Hamill, 43, of Macon, Miss., was discovered when he approached a U.S. patrol from the 2nd Battalion 108th Infantry, part of the New York National
Guard, in the town of Balad, 35 miles south of Tikrit, a spokesman for U.S. troops in Tikrit said.
He identified himself, then led the patrol to the house where he had been held captive. The unit surrounded the house and captured two Iraqis with an
automatic weapon, said the spokesman, Maj. Neal O'Brien.
In Macon, Hamill's wife, Kellie, said she received a call about 5:50 a.m. telling her that her husband had been found alive. She said it was "the
best wakeup call I've ever had."
Kellie said one of the first things she did was to wake up their children.
"There has been a lot of praying and I am so grateful to everybody," she said. "We're all so relieved, so excited."
She said she had no idea when her husband would be returning home or when she would be able to see him.
"I want everybody know he's been found," she added. "I'm going to be shouting it from the rooftops."
The bodies of four of the KBR employees were later found in a shallow grave near the area of attack. The body of the soldier, Sgt. Elmer Krause of
Greensboro, N.C., was also found and identified on April 23.
ATS post on this subject
Reuters
Guardian
[Edited on 2-5-2004 by Phoenix]
[Edited on 5-2-2004 by Valhall]
[Edited on 2-5-2004 by Nerdling]
[Edited on 3-5-2004 by SkepticOverlord]