Gracia flies home today

Today she goes home.

Missionary Gracia Burnham, who was held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf for over one year, will leave this morning for the United States to be reunited with her three children and the rest of her family.

The US Embassy said yesterday that Gracia will make a departure statement at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at 6:30 a.m. today before she boards the plane that will take her home to Wichita, Kansas.

Acting US Embassy Press Attaché Frank Jenista said Gracia has been in the care of the embassy since her arrival in Manila last Friday. "She (Gracia) has been in the care of the embassy since she arrived last Friday. She has never been to a hospital (in Manila)," he said.

Gracia was rescued after Filipino soldiers spotted the Abu Sayyaf in the Sibuco-Sirawai area in Zamboanga del Norte and mounted the rescue mission, called "Operation Daybreak."

Gracia’s husband Martin died protecting her, using his body to shield her from the crossfire. The Burnhams were among the hostages kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf from the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan on May 27 last year. Gracia suffered a gunshot wound in her right thigh, but was pronounced out of danger at the Zamboanga hospital where she was given emergency treatment.

Filipina nurse Ediborah Yap, who was kidnapped by the bandits during the siege of Lamitan town in Basilan, also died during the operation.

Gracia’s sister, Mary Jones, flew to Manila to fetch Gracia. Jones said "she (Gracia) told me every night (Martin) would sing to her... songs she didn’t even know he knew, just because he knew it made her feel better."

Jones, who lives in Jamestown, Ohio, said the couple had sensed something was about to happen because the Abu Sayyaf bandits constantly kept the hostages on the move for over a week and had not fed them in nine days.

When they set up camp, the bandits placed the hostages inside tents between them and where they thought the military would pass, Jones said.

Jones added that Gracia told her that when the shooting started, they were immediately caught in the crossfire and both Martin and Gracia knew they had been hit. Gracia told her sister that she could breathe just fine and thought she was okay, then she saw the blood on Martin’s upper torso and knew his wounds were serious.

Martin died while he and his wife were on the ground inside the tent, with his body partially covering Gracia. Four bandits were killed and seven soldiers were wounded in the operation.

Jones, who has been actively working for the release of the Abu Sayyaf hostages, said her sister sounds "incredibly good."

Jones added that "I think, perhaps, the full impact of her grief has not hit her yet." Martin’s body arrived last Saturday at the Kadena air base in Okinawa, Japan.

Jenista said in a telephone interview that Gracia is "resting and recovering and she’s in remarkably good spirits." He added that Gracia met with President Arroyo Saturday night and was informed of the Chief Executive’s orders that the military launch search and destroy operations against the fleeing Abu Sayyaf.

Gracia has spoken to her family in Wichita, Kansas since Friday and has received Filipino and American friends who told her they were saddened by the deaths of Martin and Yap, Jenista said.

No direct US involvement

Jenista added that there was no direct US military participation in Operation Daybreak: "There was no direct participation, but this is a joint task force and (there was) cooperation in planning and technical support."

US Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Gen. Richard Myers said US troops had no direct involvement in the operation or its planning. However, Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said the US troops helped in the planning and execution of the operation – but did not participate in the actual rescue because the Constitution prohibits foreign troops from participating in actual combat missions.

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Comdr. Jeff Davis said US forces helped plan the operation and provided unspecified technical support to Operation Daybreak.

The Terms of Reference (TOR) signed by the Philippines and the US governments to govern the Balikatan 02-1 war games in Zamboanga and Basilan prohibits American troops from engaging in combat operations.

The US government justified the training of Philippine troops in anti-terror tactics as part of their international campaign against terrorism and maintained that the joint military exercises were not a cover-up for any attempts to rescue the Burnham couple.

US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said last Monday that the US government was keeping an open mind about a possible extension of the Balikatan exercises in Mindanao – where the second largest overseas concentration of US troops, outside of Afghanistan, is deployed.

Jenista added that "the US and Philippine troops are both considering options on how to continue (the training and fight against terrorism)."