207- AMERICAN HEROES #3....TOM HOWES, MARC GONSALVES & KEITH STANSELL!....

There were actually five of them in the downed aircraft in Colombia on February 13, 2003.
They were working as military contractors, looking for drub labs and coca fields from a sureillance plane. And the plane's motor failed, with the pilot, later executed, guiding it into a tiny clearing on the side of a mountain. Almost immediately a revolutionary group swarmed the downed airplane. Tom Janis, pilot, was soon executed, along with a Colombian Army Sgt.

Tom Howes, March Gonsalves and Keith Stansell were captured by a group of revolutionaries waging war against the Colombian government for over 40 years and were using the drug trade and kidnappings for ransoms to finance its campaigns.

For 5 and a half years they were held captive and constantly moved many times, being treated in inhumane ways...malnourished...cold...untreated wounds...snakes and insects. Howes' and Gonsalves' marraiges eventually folded. But they continued with HOPE! Many times the kidnappers got a thrill out of playing "chess" with their captives' lives. On June 2, 2008, a helicopter showed up, with the Colombian military tricking the rebels into loading the three Americans and a few high-profile Colombians into the 'copter supposedly to move them to another camp. It WAS a trick!
The rebels were captured and the hostages freed to fly away in the 'copter!

The three former hostages, with the help of a "shadow writer", wrote a book--"Out of Captivity"--that is now out. For those 5+ years spent in horrible conditions, these three guys are American heroes for not giving up, especially spiritually.