Family Praying for Engineer Held in Iraq

"MACON, Miss. - Relatives of an American civilian taken hostage in Iraq (news - web sites) waited to learn what had happened to him after a Sunday morning deadline imposed by his abductors passed.

Thomas Hamill, 43, was snatched Friday by gunmen who attacked a fuel convoy he was guarding, the latest in a string of kidnappings in Iraq. "

"I'm just praying," his grandmother, Vera Hamill, said Sunday.

<snip>

"His captors threatened to kill him unless U.S. troops ended their assault on the city of Fallujah. The deadline passed Sunday morning with no word on Hamill's fate."

<snip>

"The news of his capture hit hard in the small community, where friends say almost everyone knew Hamill.


Lamar White, who owns a country store, said he has known Hamill his whole life and described him as a "good guy," a family man with a young son and daughter. "

<snip>

""Instead of having regular service, we prayed for him," she said, adding the church also planned an evening vigil for Hamill.

"This is a small town. It hits us hard. God bless him, he's just trying to make a living for his family." "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040411/ap_on_re_mi_ea/kidnapped_contractor&cid=540&ncid=1478

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Prayers for his safe return.


On edit: added link

The poor guy was trying to pay off the debt from his failed farm - and this was the only job he could get.

And people wonder why I'm rather outspoken about the need to keep more jobs here in America.

geez

we do NOT know how he ended up as an employee of Halliburton in Iraq. We do not even know in what capacity he was employed.

Stop making a mythological character out of this guy.

We're talking a small Southern town with a failed farmer. What sort of jobs do you suppose were available there?

I'm fairly sure, even with the lack of data, that the Halliburton job was by far the best paying option he had.

As for making a mythological character out of him - except in the sense of being an archetype for millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans - I cannot imagine what you're talking about.

Or is it somehow wrong to feel sorry for a man, and a family with young children, when they are down on their luck - and things get a whole lot worse?

I'm sure you don't mean it.