3 rescued US hostages arrive safely in Texas

By ELIZABETH WHITE

Three American hostages rescued from leftist guerillas in Colombia arrived safely in Texas late Wednesday and were taken to a hospital, where they were expected to reunite with their families and undergo tests.

The U.S. military contractors -- Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell -- were held for five years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

Their plane landed at Lackland Air Force Base shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday. The men then quickly boarded two helicopters headed to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where they landed a short time later.

Ingrid Betancourt, who was seized while campaigning for president six years ago, was also freed Wednesday, as were 11 Colombian police and soldiers.

The Americans, all wearing olive green flight suits, exited the back end of an Air Force C-17 with little fanfare, surrounded by several other people.

Their drug-surveillance plane went down in the rebel-held Colombian jungle in February 2003. Long before their rescue, the three had become the longest-held American hostages in the world, according to the U.S. Embassy in Bogota.