Rescued hostages to be honored

WASHINGTON, March 11 (UPI) -- Three U.S. defense contractors who spent more than five years as hostages in Colombia will receive an American government honor, officials say.

The Hill reported Wednesday that Northrop Grumman employees Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Thomas Howes will be awarded the Defense of Freedom Medal, the civilian version of the Purple Heart. They are to be honored Thursday at a ceremony in Miami.

The men were captured by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces on Feb. 13, 2003, after their plane crashed on a mission to survey cocaine crops over a mountainous jungle region of Colombia.

The pilot of the plane, American citizen Thomas Janis, was killed by the FARC before the contractors were taken into captivity.

The three survivors were rescued along with 12 other FARC hostages July 2.

The Defense of Freedom Medal was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to honor civilian Department of Defense employees killed or injured in the line of duty.

The Hill noted that the U.S. defense secretary can confer the award to contractors conducting department activities.