Posted on 01/21/2002 7:09:12 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Their night alone at a beach resort was a surprise wedding anniversary present -- a rare indulgence for a couple of American missionaries who in 16 years in the Philippines were known for doing much for others and little for themselves.
But the idyll of Martin and Gracia Burnham ended before dawn on May 27, when masked gunmen crashed in their cabin door, forced them outside and carried them off in a speedboat.
The one-night getaway turned into an ordeal that has lasted almost eight months and has put the Burnhams in the middle of their nation's war on terrorism.
The missionaries' captors are Muslim rebels who call themselves Abu Sayyaf and who have been loosely linked to Osama bin Laden. They claim to be fighting for an independent Islamic state in the mostly Christian Philippines, but some say the rebels are criminals who use the star and crescent to dress up a lucrative kidnapping racket.
Whatever their motive, the rebels' many kidnappings of foreigners and wealthy Filipinos has embarrassed the government and crippled tourism.
Next after Afghanistan
Until Sept. 11, the Burnhams languished in obscurity as Philippine troops failed to find them in the jungles of Basilan island in the southern Philippines.
Now, their plight dovetails with America's cause. The United States is sending hundreds of troops to the southern Philippines, which Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., calls ''the next target after Afghanistan in the war on terrorism.''
Though the troops are only supposed to train and advise Philippine forces, their arrival is likely to escalate the search for the kidnappers. That could be the Burnhams' salvation, or their undoing.
Letters from the Burnhams, relayed to their relatives by other captives who were released, suggest that the couple are desperate. By night, they are marched at gunpoint through the jungle, Martin handcuffed and tied to a leash. They have suffered from malaria and intestinal viruses and have open sores in their mouths and on their feet. Martin, who was wounded by shrapnel, has lost about 40 of his 155 pounds.
They have no medical care and no privacy. Gracia must bathe under the scrutiny of a male guard. She wonders whether she will ever see their three children again. She cries every day.
But captivity apparently has not killed the Burnhams' love. When there is gunfire, ''we always look at each other,'' Gracia said in an interview with a Philippine reporter who slipped into the rebels' camp, ''and I tell Martin, 'I want you to know that I love you before I die.' ''
Nor has it killed their faith. ''Please, please pray for us as never before,'' Martin pleaded in one note. ''We need it,'' Gracia said in another letter. ''Anytime anyone prays for us, we need it.''
Martin and Gracia Burnham are children of missionaries. They married in 1983 after meeting at a Bible college in Kansas City. Two years later, they went to the Philippines, where Martin's family had moved when he was 11.
''The Lord never called me to be a missionary. The Lord never called me to go to the Philippines,'' he told a church group a few days before he was taken hostage. ''The Lord just asked me to follow him, and that's what I've tried to do.''
Martin became a mission pilot, flying passengers and supplies around the island nation for New Tribes Mission, a Florida-based group that teaches tribal people about Christianity. His only regret was the time he spent away from home, 160 miles north of Manila.
When he returned from a trip to the USA in May, he got a surprise: Gracia had arranged a night at a resort down south, on the island of Palawan.
''I said to her, 'Oh what a good idea,' '' recalls Lynn Burggraf, a fellow missionary. ''She needed time alone with Martin.''
A band of about 20 rebels abducted the Burnhams and 18 other people, including a Californian named Guillermo Sobero who was celebrating his 40th birthday. They were whisked about 300 miles across the Sulu Sea to Basilan.
One of the best hiding places
The incident outraged Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who committed thousands of troops to the search. But Basilan is one of the best hiding places on the planet: a foggy, mountainous jungle where it's hard to see anything, from the air or the ground.
The Burnhams were forced to tramp through nearly impenetrable thickets in flipflop sandals. They could feel and hear bullets whiz by during battles with government troops. Gracia began to start when she'd hear a twig snap.
After several months, Sobero, the third American, was taken away -- to be beheaded, as it turned out. Other hostages later said he was injured and had trouble keeping up.
The Burnhams ate from the same bowl, slept in the same hammock. ''I haven't gotten tossed once,'' Gracia boasted in one note.
Martin conducted Bible study classes on passages he'd memorized. Gracia led the group in hymns and, to get the captives' minds off their meager diet of bananas and cassava roots, elaborately described her favorite recipes.
The Burnhams always found something for which to give thanks, even a bit of sunshine through the jungle canopy. And although they were exasperated with their captors, they forgave them. After all, Gracia noted in a letter, some were young enough to be her children.
Meanwhile, Martin's relatives gathered in Rose Hill, Kan., where his parents owned a house. Paul and Oreta Burnham were joined by their other children -- three of them missionaries -- and Martin and Gracia's children from the Philippines: Jeff, Mindy and Zack.
Since then, the family has observed Mindy's 12th birthday, Martin's 42nd and Zack's 11th. In July, the children recorded an appeal to the kidnappers that was broadcast on Philippine radio. ''You people that have kids must understand what it's like to be separated from your family, so please let them go,'' Mindy said.
In early December, a Filipina broadcaster met the rebels and videotaped an interview with the Burnhams. When they saw the video, the children barely recognized the prisoners as their parents. At times, the couple broke down and sobbed. Martin was particularly gaunt, his face covered by a shaggy red beard. ''That's not him,'' Martin's mother thought.
The Burnhams' relatives were frustrated by the Philippine military's repeated assurances that rescue was imminent. ''First it was in a few days, then a few months, then anytime now, then Christmas, then New Year's,'' says Gracia's mother, Betty Jones of Cherokee Village, Ark.
Gradually, eight hostages were released or allowed to escape, reportedly after secret ransom payments. Ten were beheaded.
Although there has been no official ransom demand, the rebels have let it be known the asking price for the two Americans is $2 million. The Philippine government says it will not negotiate with the rebels, a position the U.S. government supports. President Bush has promised the Philippines $10 million to fight the rebels.
But how long can the Burnhams hold out? In one note home, Gracia confessed: ''I've set deadlines in my mind for our release: Nine weeks, 18 weeks, Thanksgiving. Each has come and gone. My new deadline is January 17, my birthday. But I guess, to be honest, I have given up hope it will happen. Even our captors aren't optimistic anymore. . . . It breaks my heart.''
Gracia's 43rd birthday passed Thursday with no release and no rescue. The next big family date is Feb. 11, when Jeff, the oldest of Martin and Gracia's children, turns 15. There will be renewed hope; Lynn Burggraf says Gracia always loved a good birthday party.
The ``forward base'' is on the southern island of Basilan, where Abu Sayyaf guerrillas are holding an American couple hostage, Maj. Noel Detoyato of the military's Southern Command said in Zamboanga, across a strait from Basilan.
About 7,000 Philippine soldiers have been deployed to Basilan in a major offensive, but the 800-strong Abu Sayyaf has eluded capture for months after starting a wave of kidnappings last May.
Detoyato said it appears the guerrillas are hiding in jungle caves with their remaining hostages - missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham of Wichita, Kan., and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap - complicating the search.
Five American soldiers met with Philippine army commanders and logistics officers Saturday at the main army camp on Basilan outside the provincial capital, Isabela. He said they did not visit the forward base.
The five are part of an advance team of about two dozen. Some 660 U.S. soldiers, including 160 U.S. Army Special Forces, are to take part in the training exercise. Most will be support and maintenance personnel.
Officials said U.S. troops will be allowed to visit the front lines to assess the equipment needs and training for Filipino soldiers. They said Filipino forces would receive training in psychological and intelligence operations as well as flying helicopters at night.
The U.S. troops cannot engage guerrillas but can defend themselves.
The military of the mostly Roman Catholic Philippines has been fighting Islamic separatists on Basilan and other Muslim-dominated southern islands for a decade.
Meanwhile Saturday, Philippine officials said a cache of explosives they seized in a southern city after arresting an Indonesian man last week was intended for bombing attacks in Singapore.
Officials said more than a ton of TNT was unearthed Thursday after authorities arrested Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi of Indonesia on suspicion that he was part of a terrorist cell intercepted recently in Singapore.
``The explosives seized from Al-Ghozi were intended for terrorist activities in Singapore,'' army chief Lt. Gen. Jaime de los Santos told a news conference where Al-Ghozi was shown to reporters. Officials said Al-Ghozi, 30, was arrested Tuesday in Manila.
Singaporean authorities suspect he is a key leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, a group that also has cells in neighboring Indonesia and Malaysia, Philippine officials said. Thirteen suspected members have been arrested in Singapore, and police there say eight of them received al-Qaida training in Afghanistan (news - web sites).
The group allegedly planned attacks on U.S. and other foreign interests in Singapore. Authorities alleged that Al-Ghozi went to Singapore in October to help with the bombing plans.
Police found the explosives buried in the backyard of a house and arrested three men Thursday in General Santos City, about 625 miles southeast of Manila. They said they also recovered 300 detonators and 17 M-16 assault rifles.
Earlier reports: bin Laden's Philippine cell: 7 win freedom; missionaries still held
US Soldiers Heading to Philippines On Mission To Rescue Hostages
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