Gary,
The Colombian people should be extremely proud of their military and what they accomplished yesterday. They took on an unenviable task by infiltrating a huge rebel group and rescuing the hostages with no snags at all. That was no easy feat and they deserve all of the praise that is given to them.

Hopefully this will get some talks going on between FARC and the Colombian government and they can get more hostages released.

Cindy..Ga.

Hi Gary,
Woo Hoo! This is so exciting and GOOD news! You're right, this is so heart warming and flag waving! I feel a tear coming on.
Thanks Gary.
What a 4th!
Cheers!

A happy ending to a tragic situation.

Hi Gary, nice post. I am sure they are filled with pride. They have much to be proud of. All of the rescuers did an amazing job pulling off the mission. I am happy for them and hope this is a sign of great things to come.

They should be very proud of what has been accomplished by rescuing the 15 hostages, including 3 U.S. citizens. I thank God for their safe return and pray that the 700 plus hostages that are still in captivity that they get to go home soon. Thank you for sharing Clara’s email with us. God bless the USA and Colombia. NRM

As many other Colombians, I have been following the news very closely regarding this emotional rescue mission. Last night I felt ecstatic and proud to be Colombian. That elation was affected by the wrong information reported by some of the correspondents for CNN as well as the Senator for NM. How dare he say that this a credit to his efforts and to those of Chavez? How dare he say that the hostages were forgotten? As a Colombian, I have the right to inform you that hostages are NEVER forgotten by our government or their families. How dare he...This is due our president Alvaro Uribe Velez and our military, and no other.

Hi Gary,
I am so exciting for them bring home, Last night, I watch Anderson Cooper 360, The military Colombia tricked or fooled rebels (FARC). I am really so proud of Military Colombia got them rescued to free. I am really grateful to Military Colombia and Colombia people. It is so miracles, That is so amazing happening to them! Yippppeee! I know you were visit there a journalist 20 years ago! Gary, I like to you to tell your friend Clara " Thank you so much! I appericate that they are so celebrating tonight! You are my heroes in Colombia! Thanks so much!
Megan D.
Shoreline, Wa

Gary, that was great news to get, as you know most of the people from Latin America are very proud & love to celebrate.. it's just sad that most of the Gov. from Mexico down has be corrupt~and the people end up in the raw end of the deal.. but this was a good start to a big problem.

Gary:

The Colombian people should be very proud of their government, as well as President Uribe for the non-violent release of the 15 hostages. They are a very proud people who deserve the right to live a peaceful existence in their beautiful country.

I hope that your friend Clara has a great time celebrating and many more times to come.

Susan
Phoenixville,PA

As a Colombian having to live in exile after escaping life-threatening situations, I am very proud of the capacity of our people. Yesterday's happenings prove that when corruption is controlled we can do great things, and it also proves that we have a great President.

We are lucky that the FARC was not as violent as the paramilitary who would not keep hostages but rather kill -examples: three presidential candidates, thousands of farmers, intellectuals and labor unionists- with the help of the military and the wink of other authorities. Had actions been against the paramilitary they would surely have failed; they would have been forewarned…

We still have a dream that not only the FARC but the more cruel paramilitary groups will some day cease to exist when the latter no longer control our government and much of its powers or -better said- when to be a President you don’t have to lean on one of the two sides.

i want to congratulate our president who prepared a long-waited rescued that didn't require any type of violence or blood, and this makes us (colobmians) feel very proud of our country, our people and our government.
Now the world can see us with respect and admiration, because we are nothing else but a country who wants to be seen by who we are and what we have.

Andrea
Toronto, ON

Gary,
thank you for your words and support. As Colombian I feel very proud of my country and my people. My brother fight against the FARC and drugs dealers for 21 years, and he had to leave Colombia to protect himself and his family. We Colombians known for first hand how painful it is to see our country be destroy for those terrorist. I'm happy for the 15 hostages and their families, but my heart is with every Colombian soldier who is in those jungles fighting for our freedom. I think that it is important that people around know that some of the Colombian hostages released yesterday were soldiers who were captured during combats, and they were hostages for more that 10 and 12 years. They are real heroes.
Thanks Anderson and CNN for the great coverage, and please do not people forget that there are 700 more hostage in Colombia and they need our prayers.
Claudia Preciado
New York

The news of the hostages freed yesterday was certainly a breath of fresh air from all the other depressing news that we usually hear of. I’m glad of the happy ending they had, but let’s not forget about the others still held captive. I hope and pray that they stay safe.

Lilibeth
Edmonds, Washington

Gary, thanks a lot for your greetings to our Country, Colombia is a beautiful country, from bogota throgh the hills with coffee, to land in an special velley full of sweet people and happiness, in the north to find out the people that serve qith quality for all the tourist, all in Colombia is beautiful, you cannot believe in the images of a Colombia in war, believe in a Country in peace, in the progress and the first part of it, we the Colombians build that , and the media has the important fact of show to each one around the world, Gary and Anderson we trust in your paper, Colombia invite you to show the truth. Thanks for that article, is the real face of Colombia of People that like the PEACE.

Colombia has always been a great ally of the US. No other country on the western hemisphere has supported the policies and governments of our country like Colombia has. Even during the disgraceful invasion of Irak, Colombia stood behind the US and gave us full support.
This is a beatiful country with much to offer. They had been suffering the consequences of terrorism for many years and their citizens are tired and ready for a new beginning. However, you should know that our congress for no valid reasons has delayed the approval of the free trade agreement with them for some type of payback on Bush.
I am not a Republican or Democrat, but would like to give them back the same support we get for them. We need to write our democratic congress and press on them to pass the FTA with Colombia. It will benefit them as much as it will benefit us. Write your congressman and happy 4th of July!!!! We have a great reason to celebrate, FREDOOM!!!!!

This was a story that CNN covered once it turned into a Jason Bourne rescue mission. Was it really worth an hour on AC 360? By covering stories that are meaningless to me, the viewer, you're forcing Anderson Cooper into a bimbo discussing topics that are unworthy of his talent and my time. This story deserved 5 minutes of coverage. End of story.

The media covered the lead up to the Iraq War by debating whether or not Bush was leading us to War, rather than investigating what was behind the runup and whether it was honest. Scott McClellan confirmed that view in his book, "What Happened." You guys need to move from entertainment to news, or I'm going to stop watching.

I can't rightly put into words how much this hostage liberation means to me and I only hope that the rest of the hostages are found and released soon. Not to down play the WONDERFUL job of the Colombian military but credit must be given to SOUTHCOM in Miami. My husband is in military intelligence and he and the rest of the dedicated men and women at SOUTHCOM have spent more hours than I care to remember working this issue.

Gary, thank you for the news coverage on the recent rescue and release of the 15 hostages after years of captivity in the Jungles of Horror. Celebrations and other festivities is definitely the Recipe of the Day. Most deserving of much happiness and rejoice that seems to be overflowing the airspace in Colombia, are the immediate families of these heroes. However, I´m more skeptical and doubtful when something of this caliber hits the heart. The war still goes on and soldiers are dying, there´s a huge displacement of low income families all over the country, there´s over 700 hostages still in the jungles waiting for a free ride home, the ELN is well and alive, the so called humanitarian package is out the widow, the government refuses to end this conflict by political means, the FARC still has 12 to 13 thousand strong, in fact, this is not over by far. So keep those prayers coming. Respectfully, LAB

I guess the Bush Administration saw no reason to free these hostages sooner than the election year....................purely a Republican election year publicity stunt. Amazing how the public really didn't know anything about this hostage "Crisis". Shame on you Baby Bush...........................

Congrats to all who were involved, in anyway, with the successful rescue of the hostages from the FARC. What is amazing to me is that groups such as the FARC were formed to oust oppressive governments, yet soon they became the oppressor. I like the style of of the Columbian government and the subtle message they have sent to the FARC in pulling off this operation. This is a critical time for both sides as the FARC has lost some of its leaders and the disallusionment within this ranks that they are tired of the fighting. But make no mistake, with the message having been delivered, if FARC members want to lay down their arms, fine . But if not, in a few weeks would be time to start a major offensive against them and burn them out if necessary. Meanwhile, continue to target their leaders and those who replace them. Its time to put FARC out of business.

Neil Vineberg,

People who live in glass houses should not throw stones... You should have exercised your finger and watched a different program, after all, this is American and nobody is forcing you to watch 360.

it is pretty amazing as colombian im feeling very proud of aur army gary thank you for the news, and yes here in bogota everybody has the colombian flag out of the doors, we are so happy for this and also for the family of the 3 american citizens have a really happy 4 july, as colombian all that we want is the peace and belive as we are close to them, have a great day, and we hope all the team of ac360 can come and show to the world the new COLOMBIA and all the progress that we made in here and can know how cool the colombian people are, byeee

I salute and praise the COLUMBIAN people and will NEVER FORGET this brave and brilliant rescue. God bless your country!

Welcome home to Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell, Ingrid Betancourt and all of the other freed hostages!

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

I NEVER forgot you and I NEVER will! I prayed for a miracle and thsi si proof that God is STILL answering prayer!