Posted on 06/16/2005 3:53:10 PM PDT by naturalman1975
DOUGLAS Wood sounds like a terrific fellow. Dry sense of humour. Fondness for VB. More interested in his precious Geelong footy club than recounting his traumatic misadventures in Baghdad.
There's surely a lot more to this blessed rogue -- who, despite not visiting these shores since 1993, sounds quintessentially Australian - than the emerging picture. It's doubtful a beer and a glance at the AFL ladder can salve the scars of a terrifying kidnapping. Yet one thing is beyond question: Mr Wood has been tremendously well served by his next of kin.
The Wood clan ended this saga as they began it: dignified, understated, courageous and articulate. Brother Malcolm, the family spokesman throughout the ordeal, employed a delightful phrase - "lovely bedlam" - in describing to reporters the avalanche of relief, joy and phone-juggling on learning of his brother's release.
"There is an unceasing calling ... so it's bedlam, but it was a lovely bedlam," he said, with a gentle smile.
Malcolm sat beside Vernon, who is closer to Douglas. Behind them stood their wives, Ruth and Andrea, and Malcolm and Ruth's children, Nick, Mary and Emma.
"Team Wood" was how Malcolm proudly described the clan that had bonded, nutted out a clear-headed plan to help Douglas and, quite probably, saved his life. Mary and Emma held hands and cringed with mock embarrassment when their dad expanded the metaphor to thank "Team Australia" for freeing his brother.
What Malcolm described as the "slight disbelief" on learning of Douglas's release was still apparent on the drawn faces and misty eyes of his family as they spoke to reporters in a jam-packed room adjoining the Prime Minister's office in Parliament House.
"I think that I've cried more since Doug's release than when he was captured," Vernon admitted. "It's that overwhelming letting go. It's just taken us by storm."
Vernon spoke of his brother, "a big, rollicking man", fond of singing, drinking and footy. "Everyone loves Doug. I don't think he's got an enemy in the world," he said. Quizzed whether Douglas might consider a trip to Australia to accept a life membership to his beloved Geelong, offered yesterday by the AFL club, Vernon laughed. "If you knew our brother, he'd want to come back as the playing coach."
Malcolm came close to tears as he reflected on the past few weeks. "Perhaps it was a little easier for me than Vernon," he said, voice quivering. Mainly, though, Malcolm and Vernon answered questions with the quiet resolve that's been Team Wood's admirable trademark.
Loaded invitations to criticise the Government for joining the war in Iraq or of the hostage-takers over their treatment of Douglas were politely sidestepped.
"We can't really see into their minds," Malcolm said of the kidnappers. "Their heritage is so very different from us, it's hard to comprehend what they're thinking ... it's not possible to hate. You don't know the people. You can't quite understand them."
On the war, Team Wood played the straightest of dead bats. "We don't want to make a political comment," said Vernon. Malcolm elaborated: "We respect absolutely what the Government's done for us in this situation ... all we hope is that the Iraqi people can move forward as a people."
Sitting hunched in the back corner of the room, wiping tears from her eyes, was Labor MP Tanya Plibersek. Mary Wood, Malcolm's daughter, is on her staff and has worked for other Opposition MPs, including federal leader Kim Beazley. The previous evening, she had heard the good news from her boss via text message while travelling on a Sydney bus. Mary's link to the ALP - deemed potentially unhelpful to Douglas's rescue effort - wasn't published during the 47-day ordeal.
Mary and the rest of Team Wood joined the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer for morning tea. "A very impressive group of Australians," was John Howard's summation in question time. "The strength, the dignity and the resolve of the Wood family have been an inspiration to everybody."
Hear, hear, Prime Minister.
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