MACON, Mississippi (CNN) The wife of American contractor Thomas Hamill told reporters Sunday that her husband was "fine" and looking forward to seeing his family after escaping captivity in Iraq.
Hamill, 43, was a truck driver for Kellogg, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of oil field services contractor Halliburton Co., when his fuel convoy was attacked April 9 near Baghdad International Airport and he was taken hostage.
He was recovered near Balad, south of Tikrit, about 100 miles north of where he was captured, coalition officials said.
Kellie Hamill talked to her husband Sunday for the first time since he went missing in Iraq.
"My main concern was just getting him home safe," she told reporters outside the couple's home, which was decorated with yellow ribbons and balloons, with a giant U.S. flag draped across the roof.
The front yard was planted with yellow balloons on stakes, courtesy of friends and neighbors.
"It's a very hard and trying situation that we've been through, but I just want to let people know if you have faith and you pray, all things are possible," Kellie Hamill said.
Hamill said she talked to her husband about 6 a.m. Sunday, just hours after he was rescued.
He told her he heard a military convoy come down the road outside where he was being held, pried open a door and ran about a half-mile down the road to catch up with it.
Hamill had escaped once before but could not find any coalition troops and was recaptured, coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said. Kimmitt noted that Hamill made contact with U.S. forces Sunday, but "we don't know that he escaped from his captors Sunday."
After contacting American forces, Hamill took the troops to the house where he had been held hostage, a U.S. military official said.
The unit "conducted a hasty cordon and search of the area and detained two Iraqi citizens with one AK-47 rifle," said Maj. Neal O'Brien of the 1st Infantry Division.
The unit called for a helicopter, which evacuated Hamill to a hospital, O'Brien said. Kimmitt described Hamill as "in good health."
Kellie Hamill said her husband was worried about his family and wanted to know how they were doing.
"I just want to know what my husband went through," she said. "That way I can help him and support him in every way that I can."
Hamill has not seen her husband since September 28, when he left home to work in Iraq.
Struggling to make it as a dairy farmer, Hamill sold his herd and took a high-paying but dangerous job as a truck driver in Iraq. The couple has a teenage son and a younger daughter.
I heard about this yesterday and I am happy for him and his family. It is being reported that he wants to stay in Iraq to finish his job. His wife was interviewed and she said she didnt like it but it was his decision. It amazes me that this guy is going to do whatever it takes to save his farm.
Hamill, 43, was a truck driver for Kellogg, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of oil field services contractor Halliburton Co., when his fuel convoy was attacked April 9 near Baghdad International Airport and he was taken hostage.
He was recovered near Balad, south of Tikrit, about 100 miles north of where he was captured, coalition officials said.
Kellie Hamill talked to her husband Sunday for the first time since he went missing in Iraq.
"My main concern was just getting him home safe," she told reporters outside the couple's home, which was decorated with yellow ribbons and balloons, with a giant U.S. flag draped across the roof.
The front yard was planted with yellow balloons on stakes, courtesy of friends and neighbors.
"It's a very hard and trying situation that we've been through, but I just want to let people know if you have faith and you pray, all things are possible," Kellie Hamill said.
Hamill said she talked to her husband about 6 a.m. Sunday, just hours after he was rescued.
He told her he heard a military convoy come down the road outside where he was being held, pried open a door and ran about a half-mile down the road to catch up with it.
Hamill had escaped once before but could not find any coalition troops and was recaptured, coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said. Kimmitt noted that Hamill made contact with U.S. forces Sunday, but "we don't know that he escaped from his captors Sunday."
After contacting American forces, Hamill took the troops to the house where he had been held hostage, a U.S. military official said.
The unit "conducted a hasty cordon and search of the area and detained two Iraqi citizens with one AK-47 rifle," said Maj. Neal O'Brien of the 1st Infantry Division.
The unit called for a helicopter, which evacuated Hamill to a hospital, O'Brien said. Kimmitt described Hamill as "in good health."
Kellie Hamill said her husband was worried about his family and wanted to know how they were doing.
"I just want to know what my husband went through," she said. "That way I can help him and support him in every way that I can."
Hamill has not seen her husband since September 28, when he left home to work in Iraq.
Struggling to make it as a dairy farmer, Hamill sold his herd and took a high-paying but dangerous job as a truck driver in Iraq. The couple has a teenage son and a younger daughter.
I heard about this yesterday and I am happy for him and his family. It is being reported that he wants to stay in Iraq to finish his job. His wife was interviewed and she said she didnt like it but it was his decision. It amazes me that this guy is going to do whatever it takes to save his farm.
