Mississippians praying for family member held hostage in Iraq

heraldtribune.com/ ^ | 04-10-04 | By JOEDY McCREARY

[WKB]

JACKSON, Miss. -- A Mississippi man is being held hostage in Iraq by insurgents who have threatened to kill and mutilate him if U.S. troops don't withdraw from Fallujah, relatives said Saturday.

Thomas Hamill, 43, of Macon, was captured Friday during a convoy ambush, the latest in a series of kidnappings in Iraq. Family members said they learned of his capture later that day.

"They've been showing him on the TV, and they don't think he's an American," said Vera Hamill, his grandmother. "I just wish somebody would tell them he is an American.

"I got God, and I just trust in God," she said.

Vera Hamill said her grandson is a contractor who went to the Middle East in September to help rebuild the war-torn country.

Hamill's wife, Kellie, declined to comment to The Associated Press, referring all questions to her husband's employer, Houston-based engineering and construction company Kellog, Brown and Root - a division of Halliburton.

"Halliburton's primary concern is for the safety and security of all personnel, especially those working in such challenging environments and conditions," the company said in a statement issued Saturday. "We are monitoring the current situation in Iraq and continue to work closely with coalition authorities regarding the safety and security of all our personnel in the region."

Company spokeswoman Wendy Hall did not immediately return telephone messages Saturday night seeking further comment.

Hamill was captured Friday during a convoy ambush, the latest in a series of kidnappings in Iraq.

"Our only demand is to remove the siege from the city of mosques," a spokesman said in a videotape given to the Al-Jazeera television network that shows footage of Hamill.

"If you don't respond within 12 hours ... he will be treated worse than those who were killed and burned in Fallujah" - referring to the Americans whose bodies were mutilated and two of them hanged from a Euphrates River bridge.

On the tape, Hamill gives his name and says he is 43 and from Mississippi.

Part of the footage has no audio but shows him standing in front of an Iraqi flag emblazoned with the words "Allahu Akbar," or God is great. A TV announcer quotes him as saying his captors were not mistreating him.

"I am in good shape. I work for a private company that supports the military action," the voice-over says, a likely reference to private U.S. firms that provide security in Iraq.

"I want my family to know that these people are taking care of me, and provide me with food, water and a place to sleep."

Insurgents elsewhere in Iraq have kidnapped three Japanese, a Canadian and an Arab from Jerusalem. Those holding the Japanese have threatened to kill them unless Tokyo withdraws its troops from Iraq by Sunday, a demand Japan's prime minister has refused.

[WKB]

Missippy Ping

[rhombus]

I hope the media doesn't exploit these people to build and audience for terror.

[don-o]

"If you don't respond within 12 hours ... he will be treated worse than those who were killed and burned in Fallujah" - referring to the Americans whose bodies were mutilated and two of them hanged from a Euphrates River bridge.

Tick...tick...tick

Unless I miss my guess, after this 12 hour cease fire is over (complete the evacuation) the gloves come off, and the iron fist drops.

I pray for this man's safe release / rescue in the meantime.

[stboz]

Unless I miss my guess, after this 12 hour cease fire is over (complete the evacuation) the gloves come off, and the iron fist drops.

I'm not holding my breath. I'd like to, but....

[arjay]

I pray for Mr. Hamill's safe release. However, I do not believe we should negotiate with these animals, no matter what the cost.

[MagnoliaMS]

Oh, no. No. Please, no.

[Kaslin]

If they harm one hair on him, Falujah should be flattened

[onyx]

Hamill's wife, Kellie, declined to comment to The Associated Press, referring all questions to her husband's employer, Houston-based engineering and construction company Kellog, Brown and Root - a division of Halliburton.




Prayers for him,
and gratitude to her.
She's doing the right thing.

[WKB]

a division of Halliburton

It's Dick Cheney's fault

[japaneseghost]

Saw him on German TV.

Calm, cool, collected.

The man has CLASS.

I wish I had such class in such a circumstance.

[dandelion]

I've been praying for him all day - that he would know we are praying for him, that he is not alone...

[af_vet_1981]

We should call for the unconditional surrender of the terrorists and release of all hostages. As a matter of national policy we should act as if they are dead already while we pray for their deliverance from evil.

"If you don't respond within 12 hours we will destroy Fallujah so that no stone stands upon another.

We should follow through with a massive show of force to sear the image in the Arab mind of what happens when they harm the hair a single American.

[helen crump]

Where is Macon?

I'll say a special prayer for this family.

[nmh]

This man needs prayer. He's inthe hands of godless animals.

It also shows that these animals are getting desperate. They wouldn't be doing this if they were winning. They are using evil to overcome the good we are doing. Let's pray this man is rescued or safely returned.

[Gator113]

I completely agree!!!!!!!!!! AND, we should announce up front that from this day forward, we have no intention of fixing anything we are forced to break.

They need to hear that we are all done spending money on them and that from now on, if they don't have what they want and need...too damn bad.

[onyx]

division of Halliburton

It's Dick Cheney's fault




Of course.
I'm certain that's exactly the response
the media was hoping to get from his family members.

[onyx]

I've been praying for him all day - that he would know we are praying for him, that he is not alone...




You're such a good person.
I'm sure he knows a lot of people are praying for him.

[TrueBeliever9]

"I got God, and I just trust in God," she said.

Dearest Vera, You have the BEST; your faith in the LORD God! And thousands of saints who are beseeching the Throne Room in Thomas' behalf. According to John 16:23

[atomic conspiracy]

"a division of Halliburton"

This is all the justification the demonic terror-apologists of our own left, like Markos "screw 'em" Zuniga, will need to celebrate Mr. Hamill's torture and death. The predictability of this response provides the terrorists all the incentive they need to kill this guy. He will be murdered essentially to support the left's propaganda effort. Appeasers, fifth-columnists, and peace activists in this country are the real enemy.