3 freed US hostages give thanks for their rescue

In a statement released late Friday by the U.S. Army, the men thanked their families, the Colombian military and the U.S. government, "who never forgot us."

"For five and a half long years, we all hoped and prayed this day would come," the men said. "Now that it has, we're just overwhelmed with emotion. The love and the joy we're all experiencing is beyond description."

The three freed American hostages--Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Thomas Howes--have been receiving medical care at Brooke Army Medical Center at San Antonio's Fort Sam Houston. The three were working for a Northrop Grumman Corp. subsidiary when their drug-surveillance plane went down in Colombia's southern jungle in February 2003.

They were among 15 hostages, including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and 11 Colombians, rescued by Colombia's military in a daring mission Wednesday.

In their statement, which was released on the Fourth of July, the men said, "We can't think of a better time to thank our fellow citizens for never giving up on us, for never forgetting us, for always believing that we would, one day, return home to the country we love."

In an interview broadcast Saturday, Stansell's Colombian fiancee told that nation's RCN Radio that she has traveled to meet him in Texas along with their 5-year-old twin boys, who will see their father for the first time.

Patricia Medina said she and Stansell plan to get married. She spoke before leaving Colombia on Friday for San Antonio.

Medina was pregnant when Stansell's plane went down. Stansell later learned in captivity that she had given birth to twins, Nicolas and Keith.

"We're going to organize the wedding," Medina said. "We talked to Keith last night. He talked with the boys."