Roy Hallums (born June 23, 1948) is an American contractor who was kidnapped in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

on November 1, 2004. He was held in Iraq for 311 days and freed on September 7, 2005.Hostage rescues: When hope runs out, U.S. elite troops go in
/ref>

Life

Hallums grew up in Memphis, Tennessee.
/ref> In 1971 he married Susan Hallums and they had a daughter, Carrie Anne. The couple

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

d in 2003, but remain good friends. Hallums had been working in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

since 1993 and eventually came to work for the Saudi Arabian Trading and Construction Co. After the outbreak of the 2003 Iraq War, Hallums went to

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

where his company provided food for the

Iraqi Army The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), also referred to as the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was formerly known as the Royal Iraq ...

. After being released from captivity in September 2005, he settled down in Memphis.

Captivity

On November 1, 2004, twenty gunmen stormed the compound where Hallums and his colleagues were working in the upscale

Mansour district Al-Mansour or just Mansour () is one of the nine administrative districts in Baghdad, administrative districts in Baghdad, Iraq. It is in western Baghdad and is bounded on the east by Karkh, al-Karkh district in central Baghdad, to the north by K ...

of Baghdad. Hallums was taken hostage along with Roberto Tarongoy of the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, Inus Dewari of

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

and three Iraqis. Dewari and the Iraqis were released soon after their abduction. On December 18, American diplomats identified Hallums as the American kidnapped on November 1. His family had pleaded for his release weeks before, however, and Hallums had been identified on several websites. Hallums recounted that '' The Jawa Report'' was where his wife Susan first saw his name mentioned in public. His daughter Carrie Anne Cooper soon set up a website asking for Hallums' release. His family also appealed for his release on

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

. A

videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually Sound recording and reproduction, sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog signal, analog or Digital signal (signal processing), digital signal. V ...

of Hallums was released by insurgents on January 25, 2005. It is unclear when the tape was made. Hallums had a long beard and was seated with a gun pointed at his head. "I have been arrested by a resistance group in Iraq," Hallums said. "I am asking for help because my life is in danger, because it has been proved that I work for American forces."US hostage pleads for life in tape
/ref> Hallums did not appeal to American President Bush, but did so to

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

n president

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...

to help earn his release. Gaddafi later called for Hallums' release. Roberto Tarongoy was freed on June 23, 2005. Tarongoy said that he thought Hallums was still alive and said that the kidnappers demanded $12 million.

Liberation

Hallums was freed on September 7, 2005, along with an Iraqi captive, when members of the U.S. Army's

Delta Force The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), also known as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) as Task Force Green, is a Special operation forces, special operat ...

raided a farmhouse 15 miles south of Baghdad.Roy Hallums is freed
/ref> The location was apparently given by an Iraqi detainee. When coalition troops arrived, the kidnappers had fled. Altogether, Roy Hallums had been captive ten months and seven days. He said that he had been bound and gagged for much of the time, but doctors described him as being in "good health". After his release, he called his daughter, identifying himself by saying "This is Dad."
/ref> Hallums story was featured on an episode of the TV series '' Locked Up Abroad''.

References

Book

*Hallums, Roy. ''Buried Alive: The True Story of Kidnapping, Captivity, and a Dramatic Rescue''. New York: Thomas Nelson, 2010. .

External links