Out of Captivity : Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle

454 Acknowledgmentstions by name. We are deeply grateful to the government, the military,and the people of Colombia. In particular, General Mario Montoya, ColombianMinister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos, President AlvaroUribe Velez, and the brave men and woman involved in the planningand execution of Operation Jaque deserve mention. To those in the U.S.military and government who also contributed to our release, you haveour deep and abiding thanks. When we returned to the United States,we were warmly welcomed and cared for by General Keith Hubert andhis staff at the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston. Also,Mr. Doug Sanders was particularly helpful during this time. We are indebtedto everyone who participated in our reintegration process. Youramazing compassion and concern overwhelmed us and enabled us tomake the transition to life outside of captivity much more easily.The folks at Northrop Grumman helped take care of our familiesduring our absence and have been incredibly supportive and accommodatingof our needs since our return. We especially want to thankJames Pitts, Ronald Sugar, and Michele Magaletta, Jr., for their contributions.To our colleagues back in-country in Colombia who never lostfaith and continued to search for us—Brian Wilks, Mike Villegas, JimPabon and Ed Trinidad—we salute you for your effort and for neverforgetting.We also thank everyone at Harley-Davidson and at our local dealersfor their enormous generosity and support of our Freedom Ride. Wehope to see all of you on the road.Wade Chapple and Doug Sanders were instrumental in helping usget some of the terrific images together for the photo insert. Our thanksgo out to both of them for sending us their pictures and allowing us touse them.Our lawyers Newt Porter and Tony Korvick were crucial to guidingus through the initial stages of the publication process. Through them,we met a number of publishers. We’re very glad that we found a homeat William Morrow/HarperCollins. From the moment we spoke with