Carroll Free of Captors, But Likely Not Trauma

April 2, 2006 — -- After three months as a hostage in Iraq, 28-year-old reporter Jill Carroll is back in Boston, home base of the paper she was freelancing for, The Christian Science Monitor.

As she flew in from Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany earlier today, her family, friends and co-workers at the Monitor said she was doing well.

"What we hear from our colleagues on the plane is that she's feeling good," said David Cook, the Monitor's Washington bureau chief. "She's happy and awake and feeling feisty and looking forward to getting back. So the signs we're seeing don't lead us to have concern."

But a former hostage in Iraq said Carroll likely will face a traumatic readjustment period before resuming her normal life.

Roy Hallums, a 58-year-old former civilian contractor in Iraq held captive there for 311 days before being released in September, still hasn't fully adjusted to his freedom. From time to time, he suffers flashbacks, and believes it's best for Carroll to take her readjustment slowly.

When he was freed, Hallums said he was operating "like a 10-watt light bulb: … You think you're going full power but really you're just lighting up a little bit. Then, you get to the point where you're a 50-watt bulb and hope that you make it to 100."

'Trying to Figure It Out'

The Christian Science Monitor still has not figured out what led up to Carroll's release. But Cook said the Monitor's reporters and editors are on the story.

"We're making calls, trying to figure it out," he said. "It is a puzzle. We made lots of efforts overseas. We had public service videos, all kinds of people were praying, lots of things were going on -- but we don't know what one cause trigger her release."

Carroll, who was kidnapped in Baghdad in January, was freelancing for the Monitor at the time of her kidnapping. The paper hired her a week after she was taken hostage.

Cook said neither the paper nor Carroll's family paid any ransom to her captors. But the paper made other efforts.

"We had a team: We called it, 'Team Jill,' " Cook said. "We had two very energetic correspondents in Baghdad, Dan Murphy and Scott Peterson. They spearheaded the effort in the region, trying to get local officials to make statements, trying to get the media or public service announcements on the air in the region letting people who might see Jill know she was an innocent American journalist and worthy of their help.

"We worked with government officials in the States," he added. "We worked with a lot of media. Many of our colleagues in Baghdad bureaus for the networks and for the newspapers helped us out so we were just pulling out all the stops doing everything we could."

Now that Carroll is free, Cook said the paper plans to allow her to recuperate and reconnect with her family. Then, the Monitor will figure out how she will write about her experience and when she will come back to work. He said there are no plans for a big homecoming celebration.

Freedom Is an Adjustment

Carroll created controversy when she appeared in an interview posted on an Islamist Web site speaking against the U.S. military presence in Iraq. Saturday, however, she renounced those earlier comments in a statement read by Monitor editor Richard Bergenheim, saying she feared for her life and was living in a threatening environment.

Hallums never put too much stock in what Carroll said in captivity because he understood the stress she was under.

"It surprised me that they were having an interview, you know, just a few minutes after she had been released -- because I know I wasn't in any condition to do an interview then," he said.

"I didn't really take it 100 percent because of the situation she was in," he added. "I mean, she could have been afraid that if she said something wrong, she might have been turned back over to the kidnappers. So you know, I saw it. But I didn't put a lot of faith in it, and would rather wait and hear what she has to say when she gets back."

Hallums, of Memphis, Tenn., said he recently attended his 8-year-old granddaughter's softball game, but still is not functioning well.

His first few weeks back in the United States were particularly difficult. He had trouble doing things on his own and relied on his family for support. It was about 10 days before he could leave the house on his own, he said.

"You're elated and you think you can get back to normal within a day or two," Hallums said. "After a month, you realize you can't, that it takes time to get readjusted.

"It's sort of a shock, because for so long the world was so small and everything controlled for you," he added. "When you're free, you think you can do anything, but after awhile, you realize … your family needs to do everything for you. … It feels so strange to go to a restaurant or the store. To be all alone for that long makes you feel a little uneasy."