‘We got our miracle’: Freed Americans back home in Alabama

| September 25, 2022 

 ========= Old Image Removed =========1Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2022/09/AP22267704879738-scaled.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:7:{s:5:"width";i:2560;s:6:"height";i:1442;s:4:"file";s:35:"2022/09/AP22267704879738-scaled.jpg";s:8:"filesize";i:314634;s:5:"sizes";a:12:{s:6:"medium";a:5:{s:4:"file";s:28:"AP22267704879738-336x189.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:189;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";s:8:"filesize";i:19855;}s:5:"large";a:5:{s:4:"file";s:28:"AP22267704879738-771x434.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:434;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";s:8:"filesize";i:58746;}s:9:"thumbnail";a:5:{s:4:"file";s:28:"AP22267704879738-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";s:8:"filesize";i:10585;}s:12:"medium_large";a:5:{s:4:"file";s:28:"AP22267704879738-768x432.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:432;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";s:8:"filesize";i:57697;}s:9:"1536x1536";a:5:{s:4:"file";s:29:"AP22267704879738-1536x865.jpg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:865;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";s:8:"filesize";i:151605;}s:9:"2048x2048";a:5:{s:4:"file";s:30:"AP22267704879738-2048x1153.jpg";s:5:"width";i:2048;s:6:"height";i:1153;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";s:8:"filesize";i:227249;}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:5:{s:4:"file";s:26:"AP22267704879738-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";s:8:"filesize";i:7365;}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:5:{s:4:"file";s:28:"AP22267704879738-800x450.jpg";s:5:"width";i:800;s:6:"height";i:450;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";s:8:"filesize";i:60407;}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:5:{s:4:"file";s:28:"AP22267704879738-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";s:8:"filesize";i:55935;}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:5:{s:4:"file";s:28:"AP22267704879738-552x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:552;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";s:8:"filesize";i:37188;}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:5:{s:4:"file";s:28:"AP22267704879738-470x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";s:8:"filesize";i:30354;}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:5:{s:4:"file";s:28:"AP22267704879738-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";s:8:"filesize";i:9706;}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:2:"AP";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:415:"Andy Huynh, left, and Alex Drueke, far right, are seen hugging their loved ones after arriving at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham, Ala., Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022. The U.S. military veterans disappeared three months ago while fighting Russia with Ukrainian forces. They were released earlier this week by Russian-backed separatists as part of a prisoner exchange. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:10:"1664048087";s:9:"copyright";s:2:"AP";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:32:"Russia Ukraine Missing Americans";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"1";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}s:14:"original_image";s:20:"AP22267704879738.jpg";}
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => success
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"sizes";a:13:{s:4:"full";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:314634;s:14:"optimized_size";i:92668;s:7:"percent";d:70.55;}s:6:"medium";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:120:"The size medium is not authorized to be optimized. Update your Imagify settings if you want to optimize it.";}s:5:"large";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:119:"The size large is not authorized to be optimized. Update your Imagify settings if you want to optimize it.";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:10585;s:14:"optimized_size";i:8172;s:7:"percent";d:22.8;}s:12:"medium_large";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:126:"The size medium_large is not authorized to be optimized. Update your Imagify settings if you want to optimize it.";}s:9:"1536x1536";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:123:"The size 1536x1536 is not authorized to be optimized. Update your Imagify settings if you want to optimize it.";}s:9:"2048x2048";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:123:"The size 2048x2048 is not authorized to be optimized. Update your Imagify settings if you want to optimize it.";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:7365;s:14:"optimized_size";i:6587;s:7:"percent";d:10.56;}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:60407;s:14:"optimized_size";i:33912;s:7:"percent";d:43.86;}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:55935;s:14:"optimized_size";i:30965;s:7:"percent";d:44.64;}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:132:"The size wbhm-featured-home is not authorized to be optimized. Update your Imagify settings if you want to optimize it.";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:136:"The size wbhm-featured-carousel is not authorized to be optimized. Update your Imagify settings if you want to optimize it.";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:9706;s:14:"optimized_size";i:7723;s:7:"percent";d:20.43;}}s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:458632;s:14:"optimized_size";i:180027;s:7:"percent";d:60.75;}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Kim Chandler
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => AP Photo
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

)
1664318285 
1664120632

Andy Huynh, left, and Alex Drueke, far right, are seen hugging their loved ones after arriving at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham, Ala., Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022. The U.S. military veterans disappeared three months ago while fighting Russia with Ukrainian forces. They were released earlier this week by Russian-backed separatists as part of a prisoner exchange.

Kim Chandler, AP Photo

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Two U.S. military veterans who disappeared three months ago while fighting with Ukrainian forces against Russia arrived home to Alabama on Saturday, greeted by hugs, cheers and tears of joy at the state’s main airport.

Alex Drueke, 40, and Andy Huynh, 27, had gone missing June 9 in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine near the Russian border. The Alabama residents were released as part of a prisoner exchange. The pair had traveled to Ukraine on their own and bonded over their shared home state.

“It’s them!” a family member shouted as the pair appeared at the top of an escalator at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham, one of Alabama’s largest cities.

Smiling but looking tired, the two were pulled into long emotional hugs by family members after their connecting flight home. Then they were whisked to a waiting car.

“Surreal. I still have chill bumps. I always imagined this day. I always held not just hope but belief in this day. But I thought it was going to be two or three years from now at best,” said Drueke’s aunt, Dianna Shaw.

“There are prisoners of war who have been held for months and years. There are people who have been detained wrongfully for years and for this to come about in three months is, just, unimaginable to me,” she added. “Even though I’m living it, it feels unimaginable, and I don’t want people to forget all the Ukrainians who are still being held.”

The families of the two men announced their release on Wednesday. The men were among 10 prisoners released by Russian-backed separatists as part of a prisoner exchange mediated by Saudi Arabia. The Saudi embassy said five British nationals and others from Morocco, Sweden and Croatia also were freed.

Darla Black, whose daughter is engaged to Huynh, said she thought, “there he is. There he is” as Huynh came into view.

“I had to get my hands on him to actually believe it. I’m just overwhelmed with gratitude. We got our miracle,” Black said.

The men had arrived Friday at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

“We’re looking forward to spending time with family and we’ll be in touch with the media soon,” Drueke said shortly after arriving in New York with Huynh. “Happy to be home.”

 

Southeast U.S. braces for heavy rains from a potential tropical storm

The National Hurricane Center said a tropical depression currently hovering over the Caribbean could intensify as it approaches the East Coast. South Carolina's governor declared a state of emergency.

FBI agents fired, including some shown kneeling during 2020 protests

Agents said the kneeling was an act of deescalation. The Bureau investigated them at the time and found no causes for discipline. The FBI Agents Association decries the lack of due process.

4 essential conversations every interracial couple should have

For a strong and lasting relationship, don't be afraid to talk about each other's racial differences — and do enjoy the process of creating a new, blended family culture.

Opinion: ‘Free speech doesn’t work just when you agree with it’

NPR's Scott Simon recalls a First Amendment case from the late 1970s involving the rights of a neo-Nazi group to march through a predominantly Jewish suburb of Chicago.

‘Rocky Horror’ is 50! We propose a toast. (You know what to do)

Rocky Horror aficionados used to attend screenings of the film over and over to take notes on the details. Accurately mirroring every line and dance move has gotten easier over time.

NPR-Ipsos poll: Americans don’t broadly support Trump’s National Guard deployments

Americans are concerned about crime, but don't broadly support President Trump's deployment of the National Guard to U.S. cities, according to a new NPR-IPSOS poll.

More Front Page Coverage