Re: Life Brings Good Gifts

Date: March 31, 2004

"Life brings good gifts to ex-prisoner of war
Sgt. Christopher Stone reflects on fearful past, hopeful future

By MIKE CONNELL Times Herald

REMARKABLE FIVE YEARS: Sgt. Christopher Stone, who will be commissioned April 8 as a lieutenant in the Michigan Army National Guard, talks about how his life has changed since being captured five years ago today in Macedonia. He and two other U.S. soldiers spent 32 days in captivity in Yugoslavia.


MANY CHANGES: Since his release from captivity five years ago, Sgt. Christopher Stone, 30, has embarked on a new marriage and career in the Michigan Army National Guard.

LANSING -- Five years ago, when he was a prisoner of war locked in a Belgrade cell, Christopher Stone learned something important about himself.

"To make the most bold statement, I feel lucky to be here," he said. "No matter how bad something may seem, I've seen worse."

Today is the fifth anniversary of Stone's capture in Macedonia, where he and two fellow soldiers were ambushed by a Serbian raiding party and carried across the border into Yugoslavia. They spent 32 days in captivity, pawns in an international political struggle, before a delegation from the National Council of Churches won their release.

If captivity was the worst of times for Stone, these may be the best of times.

At 30, he has a job he loves with the Michigan Army National Guard. He has completed Officer Candidate School, and on April 8 he is to be commissioned a lieutenant."It seems like I've been a sergeant all my life," he said during an interview at the Guard's state headquarters in Lansing. "It's been a long time coming."

Along with a new commission, he also has a new bride -- the former Laurie Kersten of Emmett. They knew each other as students at Capac High School and were married 18 months ago. Stone's ready smile and bright laugh speak of his happiness.

He stays in touch with his fellow captives, Steven Gonzales and Andy Ramirez, and reports they also are doing well. Since returning home, Gonzales has graduated from Texas A&M and married a girl from his Texas hometown. Ramirez is back in Los Angeles, where he has a steady girlfriend and is studying psychology at UCLA. He also has a lifetime pass to watch his beloved Dodgers.

Loving the Guard

Stone, who grew up in the Allenton area of southwestern St. Clair County, left the Army -- where he had served eight years -- not long after returning home.

He did not leave the military, however. He signed on as a full-time staff member with the Michigan Army National Guard. For two years, he served as a public-affairs officer and shared the story of his captivity in talks to school and community groups.

"That first year, it was very therapeutic," he said of his public appearances. "The first time I told the story (to an audience), I couldn't get through it without tears coming to my eyes. It was very emotional."

While he continues to make occasional public appearances, his job for the past two years has been in marketing. With his commission next month, he will move into yet another new role as the budget and personnel officer for the Michigan Guard Recruiting Department.

"I came into the Guard with a lot of ideas about weekend warriors and picnics, and all those ideas were wrong," Stone said. "The Guard is really professional. I've loved it. It has let me remain in the military, and I've been close to home."

He also has been a witness to significant changes in the Guard and the Reserves, which are playing essential roles in Iraq, Afghanistan and other global hot spots.

"The mission of the Guard has completely changed," he said. "It's a lot more integrated (into the armed forces)."

Indeed, the National Guard has returned to its roots. For much of American history, including the Civil War and the First World War, state militias formed the backbone of the nation's defense in times of war.

"Our founding fathers obviously did not want a large standing army," Stone said. "I'm sold on the concept."

So is the Pentagon, even if some analysts worry about keeping reserve forces at full strength."There are more challenges (in recruiting)," Stone acknowledged. "We've seen a decrease, but not as bad as you might think. In fact, I think it's increased the quality of the folks we get. They are looking at it more seriously. They understand what's at stake. They're not just in it for the college benefits."

The military may be stretched, Stone said, but not to the point of snapping.

"It's an all-volunteer military getting the job done," he said. "It says something about this generation, that we can do this with volunteers."

Unrecognized heroism

Five years ago, nothing shocked Stone more than walking out of a Belgrade prison cell and into an unrelenting media glare.

"More than anything, the media attention surprised us," he said. "We expected to go back to Macedonia and our unit. ... The international attention, meeting the president, it was all unexpected."

The three POWs became celebrities in part because of the Rev. Jesse Jackson's well-publicized role in their release, but mostly because seeing American soldiers in peril was so unusual at the time. No American lives were lost in 1999 when NATO bombed Yugoslavia for 78 days.

By contrast, American soldiers now are being lost virtually every day in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It's been very difficult to hear the news of soldiers killed, soldiers wounded," Stone said. "There have been great acts of heroism out there that we never hear about."

Sorting out the politics

The passage of time has not dimmed his memory of captivity.

"It comes up in my thoughts at least once a day," he said. "It's an event that has stayed with me. ... I think it affected me in a positive way. It affected my attitude."

It certainly has made him more introspective.

Five years ago, though he was serving as a peacekeeper in Macedonia, he knew "zero, zilch, nothing" of the history or convoluted politics of the Balkans.

Today, he speaks of the region's religious and ethnic struggles with an intimate, articulate and almost sorrowful authority.

"I've read a lot," he said simply. "I've tried to find out why things happened the way they did."

He said he hopes to return to Macedonia, a Vermont-sized nation north of Greece.

"I would like to see Macedonia again," he said, "but maybe now is not the right time."

Dogged by a lie

He also would like to clear up a misconception -- a lie -- that has dogged him for five years.

The Yugoslavian government under Slobodan Milosevic insisted Stone, Gonzales and Ramirez were captured after becoming lost and crossing the border into Kosovo.

Not true, Stone said, bristling for the only time in an hour-long interview.

They were ambushed as they drove a Humvee through the tiny village of Algunja during a routine reconnaissance mission.

Algunja is near the border, he said, and the villagers are Serbs (about 2% of Macedonia's 2 million people are Serbs). But the village itself is located in Macedonia, Stone emphasized.

In fact, on the day before the ambush, he had driven Jon Anderson, a reporter with Stars & Stripes, to Algunja.

"We took the same exact road to the same exact village," Stone said. "The Yugoslavian government was the only entity who ever said we were lost, and of course, it was in their interest to say that. (Former NATO commander Gen.) Wesley Clark, in his book, said he fully believed we were in Macedonia.

"But once a story is told, you can't stop it."

©2004 The Times Herald"