Jul 12, 2008 12:44 pm US/Pacific
Rescued Hostages Head For Florida
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) ―
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U.S. contractors Keith Stansell, left, Marc Gonsalves, center, and Thomas Howes sit in an aircraft in an unknown location in Colombia after being rescued by Colombia's military from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, July 2, 2008.
U.S. Embassy in Colombia/AP
Three Americans freed after being held more than five years by rebels in Colombia gave thanks Saturday and urged people to not forget other hostages who were left behind.
The three men are heading home to Florida after about 10 days of treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.
"We're going to go home now, we're going to rest. We're going to unwind for about a month and a half," said Marc Gonsalves, who boarded a jet headed for Florida with Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell.
They were rescued by the Colombian military on July 2 after being held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
The men had been held by FARC, the Spanish acronym for the rebel movement, since their drug-surveillance plane went down in the jungle in February 2003. They were rescued when Colombian spies tricked leftist rebels into handing them over. Kidnapped presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and 11 Colombian police and soldiers also were released.
As the men made statements to reporters before boarding the plane that was to make three stops in Florida, Stansell stood in the middle, his arms around Gonsalves and Howes. They asked for privacy as they return home.
"Remember that today for the first time we're going home, there's family members that are waiting for us," Stansell said. "Just imagine if you hadn't seen your family in 5 1/2 years. ... Let us go home and be family men again."
Stansell, who along with Gonsalves proudly displayed newly obtained Florida driver's licenses, urged people -- the media in particular -- to remember the hostages who are still being held by FARC.
"Don't forget the people that are still there," Stansell said. "Because of our rescue there are fellow hostages that are still there. Some have 10 years -- right this minute, right this minute, they're in chains, looking for food and they're on the run. Their families haven't seen them for 10 years."
The men, employees of a Northrop Grumman Corp. subsidiary, arrived in the U.S. late July 2 and were taken by helicopter to the San Antonio military hospital, where they underwent a voluntary "reintegration process" and reunited with their families.
On Saturday they thanked their employer, their families and U.S. Army South, which coordinated their stay in San Antonio.
Col. Jackie Hayes, Brooke's chief of pulmonary and critical care, said at a Monday news conference that the men "in general fared very well" and that examinations have "not revealed any significant medical problems."
"At this time we believe that they are all very healthy," Hayes said Monday.
The three men also spoke Monday at a ceremony welcoming them home, where Gonsalves angrily denounced FARC as "terrorists with a capital 'T."'
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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