For the next three months the Somali captors denied them access to adequate food, water, and medicine. Jessica developed a urinary tract infection and was in extreme pain. During a call with a hostage negotiator, she said she believed she was going to die. This call set in motion a chain of events that would eventually lead to her rescue. The pirates had turned down a ransom offer of $1.5 million that ultimately sealed their fate.

The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) monitored the situation, and it became increasingly clear that the combination of inadequate nutrition, an unmedicated thyroid condition, and a worsening urinary tract infection could kill Buchanan. With the approval of President Obama, an ambitious rescue operation involving Navy SEALs was developed.

During the night of 25 January 2012, the SEALs landed in a pre-planned offset location in the Somali desert and furtively patrolled several kilometers to the objective. Upon arrival, and within minutes, nine captors were killed, both hostages were secured, and no members of the assault team were injured.

When the SEALs engaged the pirates, Jessica Buchanan was not aware of who was firing from the pitch-black darkness. She remembered: “The next thing I know, somebody pulls the blanket from my face and all I see is black. Black masks, black sky. I hear my name. But it’s not a Somali accent, it’s an American accent. And I can’t compute. Like I can’t understand that somebody with an American accent knows my name.” And they say, “Jessica we’re with the American military. We’re here to take you home, and you’re safe. All I can say over and over is, You’re American? You’re Americans? I don’t understand, you’re American. You know, I haven’t heard anybody say my name in so long.”

“I was just in so much shock I just couldn’t wrap my brain around it. The American military, they knew I was here? Americans are here? I’m not alone? One of them just scoops me up, I mean, like a movie, and just, you know, runs across the desert with me to a safe place. They knew that I was very sick and they have medicine and they have water, they have food. And, at one point they formed a ring around us because they weren’t sure if the site was completely safe.”

At one point, while they were waiting for exfiltration helicopters to arrive, the SEALs perceived something and asked her to lie down. Then they gently lay on top of her to shield her from any attack; ready to take a bullet for her, something Jessica could not comprehend. When the helicopters arrived and she got inside, Jessica said she only started to breathe once they got off the ground. And then, one of the SEALs handed her a folded over American flag. She described the moment: “I just started to cry. At that point in time, I have never in my life been so proud and so very happy to be an American.”

The remaining SEALs left on other helicopters. She didn’t see their faces, didn’t hear their names. They appeared, and they were gone. The only thing left in the camp were nine dead bandits.

Jessica’s father John got a phone call, and was told: “Mr. Buchanan, the next voice you’ll hear will be the President of the United States.” Then the President said: “John, this is Barack Obama. I’ve got some really good news for you. Your daughter Jessica has been rescued and evacuated by our SEAL team and she’s on her way home.”

Poul Thisted commented that it was “his lucky day” to be captured with an American.

From Jessica: “To President Obama and SEAL Team Six: Thank you will never be enough to express my gratitude for the difficult decisions you had to make, and the risks you had to take, so that I could have my life back. I have never been prouder to be an American and hope I can continue to live my life in a way that makes America proud to belong to me. To the heroic members of SEAL Team Six, thank you for risking your lives to save mine. I will never understand how you do what you do, but my respect for the service and sacrifice you each make continues to grow as I comprehend all you have done for me.” (Impossible Odds, p.293)

(*) From Impossible Odds

A vivid and comprehensive story can be found in the book: “Impossible Odds,” © 2013 by Jessica Buchanan and Erik Landemalm, by ATRIA Books, ISBN 978-1-2561-1.

Saving Jessica Buchanan
Somalia East Africa – The Men You Don’t See

By CDR (SEAL) Tom Hawkins, USN (Ret.)

Under cover of darkness on the night of 25 January 2012, U.S. Navy SEALs jumped into the abyss of a very dark night sky at a very high altitude. After in-air maneuvers, they deployed parachutes and landed in East Africa several miles from the small town of Adow in northern Somalia.

During October 2011 in western Somalia, Jessica Buchanan, an American citizen, and Poul Hagen Thisted, a Danish citizen, were engaged in a demining educational project for the Danish Refugee Council, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). Jessica Buchanan was a 32-year-old schoolteacher and was in Somalia to teach children how to avoid land mines.

While her group was traveling to the city of Galkayo in three Land Cruisers, they were hijacked by Somali bandits armed with AK-47s. Jessica and Poul Thisted were captured and taken far into the desert and informed that they were not going to be killed because they were holding them for a $45 million ransom. The bandits contacted the Danish Refugee Council to demand the ransom, and they alerted the U.S. embassy in Nairobi. Soon after, the FBI became involved and President Obama was briefed.

For the next three months the Somali captors denied them access to adequate food, water, and medicine. Jessica developed a urinary tract infection and was in extreme pain. During a call with a hostage negotiator, she said she believed she was going to die. This call set in motion a chain of events that would eventually lead to her rescue. The pirates had turned down a ransom offer of $1.5 million that ultimately sealed their fate.

The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) monitored the situation, and it became increasingly clear that the combination of inadequate nutrition, an unmedicated thyroid condition, and a worsening urinary tract infection could kill Buchanan. With the approval of President Obama, an ambitious rescue operation involving Navy SEALs was developed.

During the night of 25 January 2012, the SEALs landed in a pre-planned offset location in the Somali desert and furtively patrolled several kilometers to the objective. Upon arrival, and within minutes, nine captors were killed, both hostages were secured, and no members of the assault team were injured.

When the SEALs engaged the pirates, Jessica Buchanan was not aware of who was firing from the pitch-black darkness. She remembered: “The next thing I know, somebody pulls the blanket from my face and all I see is black. Black masks, black sky. I hear my name. But it’s not a Somali accent, it’s an American accent. And I can’t compute. Like I can’t understand that somebody with an American accent knows my name.” And they say, “Jessica we’re with the American military. We’re here to take you home, and you’re safe. All I can say over and over is, You’re American? You’re Americans? I don’t understand, you’re American. You know, I haven’t heard anybody say my name in so long.”

“I was just in so much shock I just couldn’t wrap my brain around it. The American military, they knew I was here? Americans are here? I’m not alone? One of them just scoops me up, I mean, like a movie, and just, you know, runs across the desert with me to a safe place. They knew that I was very sick and they have medicine and they have water, they have food. And, at one point they formed a ring around us because they weren’t sure if the site was completely safe.”

At one point, while they were waiting for exfiltration helicopters to arrive, the SEALs perceived something and asked her to lie down. Then they gently lay on top of her to shield her from any attack; ready to take a bullet for her, something Jessica could not comprehend. When the helicopters arrived and she got inside, Jessica said she only started to breathe once they got off the ground. And then, one of the SEALs handed her a folded over American flag. She described the moment: “I just started to cry. At that point in time, I have never in my life been so proud and so very happy to be an American.”

The remaining SEALs left on other helicopters. She didn’t see their faces, didn’t hear their names. They appeared, and they were gone. The only thing left in the camp were nine dead bandits.

Jessica’s father John got a phone call, and was told: “Mr. Buchanan, the next voice you’ll hear will be the President of the United States.” Then the President said: “John, this is Barack Obama. I’ve got some really good news for you. Your daughter Jessica has been rescued and evacuated by our SEAL team and she’s on her way home.”

Poul Thisted commented that it was “his lucky day” to be captured with an American.

From Jessica: “To President Obama and SEAL Team Six: Thank you will never be enough to express my gratitude for the difficult decisions you had to make, and the risks you had to take, so that I could have my life back. I have never been prouder to be an American and hope I can continue to live my life in a way that makes America proud to belong to me. To the heroic members of SEAL Team Six, thank you for risking your lives to save mine. I will never understand how you do what you do, but my respect for the service and sacrifice you each make continues to grow as I comprehend all you have done for me.” (Impossible Odds, p.293)

(*) From Impossible Odds

A vivid and comprehensive story can be found in the book: “Impossible Odds,” © 2013 by Jessica Buchanan and Erik Landemalm, by ATRIA Books, ISBN 978-1-2561-1.