My Hostages Are Home! It's the Best July 4th, Ever!

I've been following this story (to the extent to which it's been told) for five years now. The American hostages were on an anti-narcotics mission in Columbia when their plane went down in rebel territory. Tommy Janis, my dad's first cousin (like a brother to him) was the pilot. He was executed along with a Colombian intelligence officer in the plane. Tommy's body was recovered and buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The three other Americans were taken hostage.

They all worked for California Microwave Systems, a unit of defense contractor Northrop Grumman that provides surveillance systems for the U.S. military. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) said on their website that they are extremely pleased to confirm the long-awaited news that all three of its employees -- Thomas Howes, Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell -- have been safely freed after more than five years as captives of the FARC. They were freed as part of a successful Colombian military rescue effort and have been transferred to the custody of the U.S. government in Colombia for return to the United States.

I guess it doesn't make sense for us politically to acknowledge in the story that Tommy, an American, was murdered. He was the first American executed by rebels in Columbia in almost forever. Back then I don't think we wanted to make an international incident out of it. Even in the stories coming out today, they only talk about the three Americans' plane going down and they were captured. No mention of the other two passengers.

Back to the good news. Fifteen hostages held by the FARC were rescued unharmed yesterday. Among the hostages was Ingrid Betancourt, the three Americans I just told you about and 11 Columbian soldiers. French-Colombian politician and long-shot presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt was seized in 2002. She's been one of the world's most high-profile hostages. The three Americans (Howes, Gonsalves and Stansell) were captured in February 2003.

In October 2003, 60 Minutes did a segment on them, "The Forgotten Hostages". Here's their account of what happened and how my cousin was killed.

"To our country, we miss you and we hope we return one day. We're alive and well," says Keith Stansell, 38, a systems analyst.

"We expect to get out of here one day. We can't say for sure,” says Thomas Howes, 50, a professional pilot. “But our main concern is the welfare of our families."

"I'm a proud American,” says Marc Gonsalves, 31, also a systems analyst. “I look to you guys and I ask for a diplomatic solution to get us home safe, please."

A videotape of the three Americans - Stansell, Howes and Gonsalves - was made by Colombian journalist Jorge Botero. He made the trek deep into the jungles to a steamy, wooden shack.

Botero was escorted inside by a guerrilla commander, where he met the three Americans and recorded a tape to prove that they were alive and well – and ready to be traded for imprisoned members of the FARC Revolutionary Army being held by the Colombian government.

They are prisoners in a war most Americans don't even know is going on, even though the United States is deeply involved.

Stansell, Gonsalves and Howes are contractors, like some of the thousands of American civilians now in Colombia. Many of them were hired by the U.S. government to search for and destroy cocaine production.

Drying up the drugs will dry up a source of funding for the FARC, a highly organized guerrilla group now in its 40th year of war with the Colombian government.

The daily search for drugs turned deadly on Feb. 12. The three Americans landed in the middle of it, literally, when their plane crashed in FARC territory.

"We essentially crashed right into the middle of a big group of FARC,” says Stansell. “We had no chance to escape. We crashed right on top of them."

The three men, along with American pilot Tom Janis, and a Colombian military intelligence officer, took off for a routine flight over the jungle.

"I heard the engine make a sound as far as quitting. It just quit. It got real quiet,” says Stansell. “I looked at Marc, and Marc was looking at me for an answer, so I asked the pilot, 'What's going on?' The pilot, Tom Janis, said, ‘Sir, that's an engine failure.’"

"Tommy Janis, the pilot, saw out of his side of the aircraft a postage-stamp-sized open area of green grass," says Howes. "And he decided immediately that was to be the place. My feeling was that there was a good chance we weren't gonna survive the landing."

They hit the ground and Stansell says the airplane opened up as dirt and debris flew inside. The plane lay in pieces in a clearing, and Gonsalves and Stansell stumbled outside.

"When I first looked at the front of the aircraft, I saw Tom and he was unconscious against the window. If you can see on his head, he had large cuts on his head. He had a broken nose, broken teeth, he was covered in blood. I thought initially he was dead when I ran up to the front of the aircraft,” says Stansell.

"I leaned against the window and banged on the window. I thought he was dead. My fear was that the aircraft was going to catch on fire and they were going to burn to death. At the same time I exited the aircraft, I heard gunshots and the FARC were on the ground. They shot into the air and they ran up to us as I was trying to get the pilots out."

“I had blood dripping down my forehead from just above my eyebrow,” says Howes. “And one of the FARC soldiers with us gave me a bandana to keep the blood out of my eyes."

But the guerrillas could not be trusted. Before leaving the crash site, they separated the hostages.

“The last time that I saw the Colombian and Tommy Janis. When I looked back at both of them, they had their hands up, and they were being marched towards us, but they were still a long distance from us," says Stansell.

The bodies of pilot Tommy Janis and the Colombian military intelligence officer were found near the wreckage. They had been shot to death, execution style.

"We asked the leader of the group what happened, they explained to us that Tommy and the Colombian were dead,” says Stansell. “We didn't ask any more questions. We were in fear. We had nothing more to say."

But given this opportunity, the three Americans wanted to send a taped message to the Janis’ family about their murdered friend.

"To his two sons, your dad saved our lives. He did not panic, he was incredible, both pilots were,” says Stansell. "Neither of them panicked. They held together and they took the worst injuries in the impact."

The three Americans left alive marched on with the guerrillas, deeper and deeper into the jungle.

Howes said it ended up being a 24-day march on foot, on mule and on the back of trucks.

For months, the men had no outside contact – no word of the outside world – until late July, with the arrival of journalist Jorge Botero and his camera.

Botero brought the men magazines and news materials that they hungrily read, trying to catch up on lost months.

"I just learned that we invaded Iraq and I didn't know that because we've had no news. Nothing for five and a half months,” says Stansell. “We've known nothing. Imagine just sitting in a box for five and a half months, nothing, no news, nothing."

As they went through news reports about their own situation, they learned something heartbreaking -- that a friend of theirs had died looking for them a month later. Their plane crashed, killing all three men on board.

"This is the worst thing I've ever gone through in my life. I've never gone through anything worse,” says Stansell. "You sit, day in and day out, and I look at my friends here and at the end of the day here, we think to ourselves, ‘We're alive another day. We will be alive tomorrow? Do we have a future? Can we see our families?'”

So that was their story.

There are believed to remain about 700 people taken captive by the FARC, a four-decade-old insurgency which figures on US and European Union lists of terrorist organizations.



I combed the news for months looking for an update on this since it happened. I was on the treadmill this morning when I saw a short news clip about three American hostages being rescued from a Columbia rebel camp. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I knew it had to be them. And sure enough, it is! I'm so glad you're home, guys. You don't know me, but I've thought about you often and prayed for your safe return for years.

As for Tommy, something extraordinary came out of his death for me. When my family got the sad, terrible news that he was executed, I immediately reflected on the last time I saw him at my cousin Cathy's wedding. He was a Black Hawk helicopter pilot in the army. He promised to take me up for a ride someday. He was an honest-to-good, decent guy. So, why the senseless death?

Here's what I concluded. It wasn't at all senseless. He was living a life that made a difference for all of us. Before he was killed, I had no idea what he did for a living, other than fly planes with the military. But how awesome to discover that he lived a life of purpose - ON purpose. He died making a difference. What an honor. An honor I hope to achieve someday. I started looking for my own way to make a difference that very day. It took me a few years, but I set out on that journey for myself when I decided to help the women and children who need it most. That's what brought me to Raising Malawi.

It's all connected.

Tommy inspired me to fight the good fight. And I urge everyone to do the same, whatever that means for you.