Back on U.S. soil, three American hostages rescued from Colombiarebels are now in the process of reintegrating into a societythey've been absent from for more than five years.
They took the first steps Wednesday and Thursday as theyunderwent medical evaluations and began reuniting with familymembers.
"The one thing I can say about these individuals is thatthey're very resilient," said Col. Carl Dickens, a JointPersonnel Recovery Agency psychologist. "They're verystress-hardy and they're doing very well."
The three U.S. military contractors _ Marc Gonsalves, ThomasHowes and Keith Stansell _ had been held by the Revolutionary ArmedForces of Colombia since their drug-surveillance plane went down inthe jungle in February 2003.
They were among 15 hostages, including former Colombianpresidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and 11 members of theColombian security services, rescued by Colombian forces in adaring mission Wednesday.
After living in an environment Dickens described as"particularly challenging" for nearly 5 1/2 years, not tomention being away from family, a return to normal life will taketime.
"Our job is to try to facilitate that transition back totheir previous situation," Dickens said. "The way that wego about doing that is by helping them to gradually re-establishsome predictability and control over their experience, help themidentify some potential challenges that they may encounter as theymake that transition and then finally give them some action plansthat they can use."
The men, employees of a Northrop Grumman Corp. subsidiary, havealready completed the first phase of a reintegration processoutlined Thursday by Maj. Gen. Keith Huber, commanding general ofU.S. Army South, which is responsible for Army operations in LatinAmerica and the Caribbean.
That phase, called "initial recovery," began Wednesdaywhen the three came under U.S. control. It involves immediatemedical care and psychological evaluations.
The men are now in the second phase of reintegration,"transition location," at Brooke Army Medical Center atSan Antonio's Fort Sam Houston. They continue to receivemedical care and reunite with family members.
Huber said Stansell had already visited with his son, Kyle, anddaughter, Lauren, as well as his father and stepmother.
"So on the tail end of their first private reunion in fiveyears and five months, I can tell you that it made us all veryproud that there were children there who were thrilled to see theirparent and there were parents there who were overwhelmed withseeing their son back safe," Huber said.
He said Howes _ whose birthday is Friday _ and Gonsalves were toreunite with their families later Thursday.
Huber said the second phase of reintegration typically lasts twoto four days before the final phase, called "home base,"which involves final debriefings and resumption of normalactivities.
"The conditions that they lived under were very cruel andvery Spartan," he said. "And they are very grateful tothe government and the armed forces of Colombia for this safereturn, as are we."
Huber emphasized the men are participating in the reintegrationprocess voluntarily because they are not members of themilitary.
Dickens noted that the process is designed to help not only thefreed hostages, but also their family members.
After less than 24 hours on U.S. soil, the men's health wasa primary concern Thursday.
Asked about possible disease, Col. Jackie Hayes, thehospital's chief of pulmonary and critical care, would notdiscuss any specific conditions the men might have.
"I'm happy to report that they are all in very goodphysical condition, very strong," he said.
Hayes said that as of now, the men aren't believed to haveany infectious or communicable diseases.
U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield had said Wednesday that twoof the three men were suffering from the jungle maladyleishmaniasis, which is caused by parasites, and were "lookingforward to modern medical treatment."
Kelly Coady, Stansell's ex-wife, told The Associated Pressby phone from Sarasota, Fla., that Stansell spent an hour with16-year-old Kyle and 19-year-old Lauren.
"Kyle said his father looked really good, looked thin, butlooked really, really good," Coady said.
Associated Press writer Tamara Lush in Miami contributed to thisreport.
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