Sighs of relief and giddy anticipation for the three U.S.soldiers being released from captivity and on their way to Germany.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson’s role in the apparent release of three American POW’s held captive in Yugoslavia is being hailed by area pastors. They believe his credentials as a clergyman, combined with his negotiating skills gave him the credibility – and respect – he needed to cut a deal with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. The surprise announcement Saturday afternoon was greeted with relief albeit restrained – by the Rev. Elizabeth Polanzke, pastor of St.John’s Lutheran Church in Capac. Staff Sgt. Christopher Stone, one of the three captives, is a 1991 graduate of Capac High School. “We’ll be really relieved when he is actually in our hands,” the Rev. Polanzke said.
“But until that actually happens, we are still waiting.” She believes the Christian example set by the Rev. Jackson as a civil rights activist and as a mediator helped give him the stature to act as a catalyst in the negotiating process that apparently has freed Sgt. Stone, Sgt. Andrew A. Ramirez and Spc. Steven M. Gonzalez.
Meanwhile, President Clinton welcomed Yugoslavia’s dramatic release of the three POW’s, but his administration rebuffed Slobodan Milosevic’s request for a pause in the airstrikes and for a meeting with the president until the Serb leader agrees to all NATO demands. “This gesture of goodwill cannot obliterate or overcome the stench of evil and death that has been inflicted in those killing fields in Cohen Cohen Defense Secretary Cohen said Sunday “Meet the Press.” Kosovo,” William on NBC’s Meet The Press.
And that’s a small slice of what went on, this May 2, 1999 as presented by CBS Radio News.
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