Great News!!! Columbian military recovers 11 hostages from FARC

[Chris_]

Got this message in my internal e-mail box about 20 minutes ago.

From:   ES Special Bulletins 
Sent:   Wednesday, July 02, 2008 1:58 PM
To:     DL ES Users Distribution; DL ES Users Distribution IT; DL ES Users Distribution TS
Subject:        BREAKING NEWS! The Three ES Colombian Hostages have been freed!
Importance:     High

We have great news to report. At long last, our 3 colleagues have been rescued from captivity in the Colombian jungles.  Three Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems employees, Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes, and Keith Stansell, kidnapped five years ago by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), were freed by the Colombian military a short time ago. Watch the Colombian Hostage website on the ES Intranet for further details.

Great news, eh?  I went online to find confirming information, and found this:

Colombia frees Betancourt, Americans

 
The Associated Press
Wednesday, July 2, 2008; 4:00 PM

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombia said its military rescued former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three U.S. military contractors and 11 other hostages from leftist rebels on Wednesday.

Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos says no one was hurt in the operation in eastern Colombia.

He said army commandos captured rebels manning a security ring around the hostages and got them to persuade their comrades to turn over the captives, without any loss of life.

Santos says the other 11 hostages freed were Colombian soldiers and police.

Betancourt, the Americans Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell, and the other hostages were taken to a military base.

Washington Post/AP link

Hoorah for the good guys!  Welcome home Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell!

[asdf2231]

OUTSTANDING!

[BEG]

Wonderful news indeed! 

[Chris_]

Latest word from Northrop Grumman is that the three Americans Gonsalves, Howes and Stansell are currently recieving medical treatment ON US SOIL (meaning probably the embassy in Bogota), and will be flown home to their families, soonest available.  All three are in good condition for their ordeal.

[Flame]

Woot!!

[Chris_]

An update came in the e-mail about 20 minutes ago:

Rescued Hostages Now Back in the U.S.

To Our Colleagues:
We are thrilled to report that our colleagues, Thomas Howes, Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell, are
back in the United States after their rescue yesterday following more than five years of captivity by the
FARC in Colombia.

Tom, Marc and Keith arrived safely in the United States at approximately 11:30 p.m. last night and
were taken to the Brooke Army Medical Center, located on Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas,
where they are undergoing extensive medical evaluation. The Center is one of the major medical care
facilities for service members returning from overseas, and offers a wide variety of services.

For more than five years, we prayed for the release and well-being of these heroic men and supported
their brave families. We shared in the anguish while they were captives and today we can share in the
joy of knowing that they are free men and safe. We extend our heartfelt appreciation to the many men
and women of the Colombian and U.S. governments who have worked so hard for so many years to
reunite Tom, Marc and Keith with their families.

Northrop Grumman has arranged for them to be reunited with members of their families today in San
Antonio. We have been engaged with the three families since the hostage crisis began and continue to
provide assistance to the families as needed.

While we celebrate the return of Tom, Marc and Keith back home to the United States, we are mindful
that a fourth employee, Tom Janis, was killed by the FARC shortly after their plane crashed in the
Colombian jungle in 2003. He is deeply missed and will not be forgotten.

Praise the Lord!  I can imagine 3 families are gonna have a better Independence Day tomorrow than the rest of us, and I couldn't be happier for them.

[Chris_]

[Chris_]

One of the guys was being interviewed on CNN today.  He's the one who had a fiance' carrying twins when he was captured, and came back to a pair of 5 year old boys he'd never seen before.  He said that he had to take being with his family in small chunks for the moment, because it was too emotionally overwhelming otherwise.

I'm glad beyond measure that they're home safe.