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Amb. Ashe (center) welcomes Jerzy Kos and his wife to the Embassy.
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Reassuring words: `Don't worry, we are Americans'
June 10, 2004
Associated Press
Blinking through the blinding dust kicked up by helicopter rotors, Jerzy Kos saw soldiers bursting through the iron door of the house where he was held captive in Iraq. Then, he recalled, they reassured him: "Don't worry, we are Americans."
The Polish businessman recounted his rescue from Iraqi kidnappers, along with three Italians, after an emotional homecoming at the Warsaw airport that left his voice trembling.
One of the Italians, Umberto Cupertino, gave a similar account on his return home, saying an American soldier cut the bonds on his wrist, said in English, "You're mine," and led him to a helicopter. Kos, a construction company director, described the rescue as a "fast and
unexpected" operation.
He and the Italians were imprisoned in a house in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, when they and their captors heard helicopters approaching. The door was then blown in, kicking up a dust cloud and knocking the hostages to the ground. "There was lots of dust and you couldn't see through it. When I opened myeyes, I saw American soldiers," he said. "They said, 'Don't worry, we are Americans.' They held our hands and we ran to the helicopter -- I will remember that for the rest of my life." "They did it perfectly," Kos said at a news conference.
He did not say what happened to the kidnappers. "I am very moved to be back in Poland and to be alive," Kos said after stepping off his plane, his face pale and voice trembling. "I am so moved, I can hardly speak." A spokesman for Kos' construction company, Jedynka, said he was seeking medical treatment.
Kos was abducted June 1 by armed attackers along with another employee, Radoslaw Kadri, two female Iraqi workers and three Kurdish guards. Kadriescaped, and the two women were released shortly after being captured.
A day after he was taken, Kos was put in a room with the three Italians, who were seized April 12, and they were then all moved together until their release, he said.
"We talked a lot and supported each other as much as we could," he said. A fourth Italian hostage, Fabrizio Quattrocchi, was killed by his captors.
Text: Associated Press
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