Welcome Home Thomas Hamill
Welcome home, Thomas Hamill, to your family and friends. So glad to see you back in Macon, Mississippi. No ticker tape parades are needed, at least for now. I am sure you need to catch up on some sleep, be with your children and your wife, eat some of that fine home cooked food I enjoy whenever I find myself around your way. You are a brave innocent bystander turned national hero, and proof that miracles as well as atrocities happen daily.
You remind me that good and evil reside next to one another in equal measure, and that choices we make decide our fate, even if those choices lead us to the unexpected. I breathe a sigh of relief that you are out of harm’s way. I remember when you were taken hostage, there was a certain dignity with which you held yourself, and a type of respectful silence you kept with your captors. We were all afraid for your safety, but you didn’t seem scared to me, even though the scene was terrifying. We didn’t know if you’d make it, but you are ok and are now settling in to a quiet day in a life you might have never seen again, were it not for your faith, your hope, your determination.
Many hostages were not so lucky, as you are well aware. The Italian journalist, who proclaimed before his untimely, impromptu execution, “Now you will see how an Italian dies,” was a morbidly glorious and iconic action movie worthy moment, but he is now gone, machismo notwithstanding. I am saddened for his death. Not only was it an unjust and inhumane killing, he was really good looking. Why did they have to cap him? He was fine. Dang. I mean no disrespect - but that guy was H-O-T-T!!!! I wouldn’t mind taking him hostage. ( I am just kidding. I would never wear a stocking face mask in that heat. My pores are big enough as it is.)
The Japanese hostages were released to a not so welcoming nation. They got yelled at for being stupid enough to go to Iraq in the first place. You know one of them got slapped. Out of the frying pan, into the hibachi. Well, every culture deals with their own as they will. I think those Japanese kids should at least have gotten a hug or tickets to a baseball game or something. I am going to send them a card. Does Hallmark cover that? Hm. There must be some “Hostage Homecoming” market they have yet to tap into.
Do you think that Jesse Jackson helped? He did go over there to make peace with the different insurgent groups. I am glad. He must have a kick ass Hilton Honors program. Talk about frequent flyer miles.
Speaking of which, I hear you are going back to Iraq. You were quoted as saying, “Somebody has to go rebuild that country” - or something like that. Look, you don’t have to. You really don’t. You can take the day off. Take the rest of your life off. You been through a lot of shit. Seriously. If I was taken hostage I WOULD NOT BE GOING ANYWHERE NEAR THERE EVER AGAIN AS LONG AS I LIVED AND EVEN IF I WAS ON A PLANE PASSING OVER THE AREA I WOULD MAKE FACES IN THE WINDOW TO THE GROUND THOUSANDS OF FEET ABOVE LIKE THEY COULD SEE MY SHIT BECAUSE I AM IMMATURE AND ALL THAT - but you are certainly a better person than I.
You are noble and generous, and your willingness to return to salvage the land that has been torn apart by this war, even after suffering as a prisoner of it, speaks to the kind of man you are. A gentleman, an inspiration, a patriot, and more heroic than most of the people in office. God bless you.