They're Back. It's a Homecoming

In movies and in books I don't always need a happy ending to enjoy the story or get something out of it. But in real life, happy endings are absolutely wonderful. And when it involves your children, you always want a happy ending.

From time to time I've written here about the hikers Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd who were arrested for trespassing in Iran, accused of espionage and imprisoned in the summer of 2009. In September 2010, after 410 days of solitary confinement, Sarah was released. But the anguished waiting for Josh and Shane's liberation went on for still another year.

To everyone's great relief, the drama had a good ending. Josh and Shane were home again.

Last Saturday evening in Pine City there was a quiet gathering of friends and supporters who had stood by Shane's family here in Minnesota these past two-plus years. My long-time friend Kelly McFaul-Solem is a photographer who shared these pictures from last Saturday's quiet celebration in Pine City. The family invited friends who had been standing alongside them through the ordeal. I asked Kelly if instead of my usual Wordless Wednesday photos that maybe I could share hers here. It seems like a good introduction to Thanksgiving.

As we give thanks for this gift of resolution, let's also remember all the other situations where loved ones are still waiting for a homecoming.


And thank you, Kelly, for these great pictures.

Hikers Now Free. Huzzah!

It started as an innocent vacation to an exotic location in a remote part of the world. Unfortunately, the location was not as innocent as it appeared, for this selfsame remote region is one of the channels by which the United States has probably slipped spies into its unfriendly enemy, Iran. The three hikers were captured and imprisoned, charged as both trespassers and spies.

To say "charged" is a misnomer because it was not until 18 months later that they actually went to trial and still another seven months later before the verdict and sentencing. In the judgment of the court they were guilty, sentenced last months to an additional eight years.

A lot of heartbreak went on, but if you listened closely you could hear whispers that this was Ramadan, the holy month, and acts of mercy can occur.

Sure enough, yesterday Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer were freed, flown to Onan to be re-united with their families. (Sarah Shourd, Shane's fiance had been released on bail early this year, probably for health reasons.)

National Public Radio interviewed linguistic anthropologist William O. Beeman regarding this situation and U.S.-Iranian relations. Beeman, a University of Minnesota professor is author of The Great Satan vs. the Mad Mullahs: How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other. It was Beeman who noted that the hikers were probably unaware that the area they were vacationing in was also an entry point for U.S. spies. To some extent, their two-plus years of incarceration was due to our poor relations with this unfriendly state.

Of Beeman's work, the Muslim World Book Review writes, "Drawing on his experience as a linguistic anthropologist, Beeman parses how political leaders have used historical references, religious associations, and the mythology of evil to inflame their own citizens against the other foreign country and proposes a way out of this dangerous debacle."

We had friends who were living in Iran when the Ayatollah Kohmeini came to power. Our friends had to sell their house and all they owned in one day in order to escape into Turkey during that first night. They used their money to by a gold belt and a couple Persian rugs, which became their total life assets. The Shah himself had to flee as well. He was undoubtedly able to whisk a lot more out of the country than a belt and a couple rugs I'm sure. Two years later I was walking down a street with rich peoples' estates in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and a palatial house there is where the Shah had escaped to, the same block as one of Richard Nixon's winter homes, the same town where conquistador Cortez built his own winter palace.

History is filled with connections. Sometimes innocents get swallowed by events they have little control over. Fortunately for the families of Shane and Josh, this chapter of their lives is behind them. Welcome home, travellers!

See their happy faces here.

Hiker Update: Shane and Josh Sentenced to Eight Years

When I was a boy we went through a phase where we played marbles a lot. We often went next door to Dennis Kappos' house to play. He had a flat driveway and lots of marbles. The houses were close together in our Cleveland suburb of Maple Heights, with a space just wide enough for your car and three feet of lawn in between. The Yeagers* and Turners, two families without children, lived in the two houses beyond Dennis' house and their manicured lawns were maintained with extreme care.

It must have been exasperating for Mrs. Y to see these wee boys always gathering just a few feet from her yard because we knew it was forbidden for us to tread there. Sometimes she would watch out her window to see if there was mischief going. Occasionally she would bark at us, and on one occasion I remember a marble shooting onto the grass and Mrs. Y. furiously rushing out across her lawn in an attempt to retrieve it, as if the offending marble weight a half ton and might permanently damage the surface of the yard. Evidently it never occurred to her that here heels were doing more damage than any size marble ever could.

This is the story that popped into my head when I read this morning's paper announcing a verdict in the Iran trespassing case involving Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal who were taken into custody more than two years ago. Shane and Josh have now been sentenced. Iran television announced that they have each been sentenced three years for illegally trespassing and five years for spying on behalf of the U.S.

Like Mrs. Y. and the marbles, the behavior seems so out of proportion to the real offense that it ought to be comical. Tragically we are discussing a very lengthy segment in these young men's lives, and the lives of their loved ones. There is nothing funny about it.

In some ways I can half understand the Iranian argument that these young men were spies. Over and over again we read books and stories about how the U.S. trained and utilized Delta Force heroes to infiltrate various hot spots incognito. The net result of these clandestine actions is to cause our adversaries to distrust anyone who happens to be American, or foreign. Missionary work and humanitarian aid activities become riskier when there is a shadow of doubt as regards the real motivations of those implementing these activities.

So it is that Shane and Josh have now been stamped as spies by a nation with whom we do not have diplomatic relations.

There is still a basis for maintaining hope that this ordeal will be over sooner than later. According to a Washington Post article, "the report (of the young men being sentenced), although carried on Iran’s highly controlled state media, was not immediately confirmed by authorities."

Let's keep Shane and Josh, and their loved ones, in our prayers.

*Yeagers and Turners: Not their real names.

After Near Two Years It Is Time to Free the Hikers

As I was reflecting on our summer events schedule I recalled to mind that at some point in late July last year having participated in a small demonstration on behalf of the three hikers who had been arrested and imprisoned in Iran one year before. It is believed that they were not even on the Iran side of the border, but most certainly if they had inadvertently trespassed it was without ill will. Duluth Mayor Don Ness was present, as were members of the Shane Bauer family and Senator Al Franken.

Iranian forces detained Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal on July 31, 2009 while they were enjoying a recreational hike in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan. There are conflicting news reports about whether they strayed across the poorly marked border by mistake or Iranian forces entered Iraq to arrest them. One thing certain, our geography maps in school have very defined lines where one country ends and another begins, and usually the countries are different colors. It is most unfortunate that such definition was absent for Shane, Sarah and Josh.

If you have been following the story, Sarah Shourd was ultimately released on $500,000 bail last fall, due primarily to health concerns. Once free she began campaigning for the release of her fiance Shane and friend Josh.

This week I was notified by a friend of Shane's mom that a trial date had been set. Interestingly enough, the date coincides with the second anniversary of the hikers' arrest and detention. Here's the story from UPI.

TEHRAN, June 20 (UPI) -- The trial of two American hikers who strayed into Iran from Iraqi Kurdistan will begin on the second anniversary of their arrest, their lawyer said.

"I've just received an official notification that says the ... trial will be on July 31 in the morning, which is exactly the anniversary of their arrest in the Iran-Iraq border two years ago," attorney Massoud Shafii said in a Los Angeles Times report Monday.

Read more.

Think of all the things that have happened in your life this past twelve months. Now go back yet another year to July 2009. Two years of life experience have been stolen from these kids. My prayer is that something inside them will have added a depth and power to their lives that makes the years which follow significant. Undoubtedly this kind of experience makes a life changing impact.

We take our freedom for granted. For a brief space of time today let's remember these young men as they approach the end of a second year in Iranian captivity.

EdNote: The image at top was created for last year's memorial... do not think it is still but one year. Sadly we approach two. It really is time to free the hikers.
Lower right: In May I ran into Senator Franken at the Minneapolis airport while I was on my way to Denver. Though all smiles for this photo, we talked in more serious tones about Shane and Josh.