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.

[TrueBeliever9]

You are using the most powerful weapon in the universe! While our warriors are on the battlefield; we need to the prayer warriors that the LORD God has called us to be.

[Happy2BMe]

"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."

Prayer chain ping.

[WKB]

Where is Macon?


Somewhere between Starkville and Meridian Sorta

[xzins]

Hamill.....definitely American

[TheBattman]

Too late. Every report I have seen on the Lame-stream media has done just that - exploited the report.

Ugh....

[TheBattman]

Time to begin carpet bombing of the entire town? We could even give them an hour or two advanced notice.

[dixiechick2000]

I've been praying for him, and will continue to do so.
I hope he can feel ALL the prayers said for him and
I hope these prayers will give him the strength he needs.

Thanks for the ping.

[Travis McGee]

I hope that I would have such grace under that kind of unimaginable pressure.....

[Jack Black]

Honestly I don't think you would have made it that far. Knowing you from your postings and novel I suspect their would already have been one big ass fight.

Of coruse it is hard to tell from the clip of him in the car, but it appeared there were four terrorists holding him, and that he was not tied. Further it appeared one was carelessly puttting his AK right in his lap.

Different people react differently in these situations. I bet he's not a former Seal, and it may have been more difficult than the little clip shows.

He certainly has shown grace under pressure, and I hope that he is released safely. My prayers are with him.

Regardless he has shown complete poise

[OutSpot]

THOMAS E HAMILL FROM MACON, MS

[MarMema]

God Bless you, protect you, and be with you Thomas. May His peace bring you through whatever is ahead of you. May you know as never before how much God loves you - may your heart be filled with this knowledge.

[4everontheRight]

Praying for his safe return. Praying for his family as well. Praying for all those who are serving our country in the armed services as well.

[GretchenEE]

Been adding my prayers to the family's.

[Letitring]

Thank you W. I've been looking for a thread like this.

Prayers have gone and are going up for Thomas. We MUST pray for this man.

I agree with those who've said, should one hair on his head be harmed, flatten that town.

[petitfour]

Thanks for the ping. Prayers for Mr. Hamill and his family.

This reminds me of the soldiers who were taken captive in Kosovo or Bosnia during 1999, I believe. Our daughter was in first grade, and her class was having to write a paragraph for some state test. It could be about anything. She wrote about the soldiers who were taken captive, and that she prayed they would be released and return home safely. Her teacher read it before she had to turn them in to the state, and she was so moved that she made a copy of it for me. A few weeks later, the soldiers were released. She believed. I believe.

[WKB]

A few weeks later, the soldiers were released. She believed. I believe.




John 14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.


Have a Blessed Easter

[WKB]

Thank you W. I've been looking for a thread like this.



It's about time you showed up on a MS thread :>)