Bush calls Gracia ‘a pillar of strength’

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AFP) – US President George W. Bush telephoned an American missionary Tuesday to offer condolences for the death of her husband in the rescue that ended a year-long hostage ordeal in the Philippines, the White House said.

"The president said afterwards that she is a pillar of strength," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters of the conversation with Gracia Burnham, widow of missionary Martin Burnham.

More than a year after she and her husband were captured by the Abu Sayyaf, Gracia Burnham returned to Kansas City the other day and was reunited with her three children.

The Abu Sayyaf gang held the Burnhams, originally from Wichita, Kansas, in southern Philippine jungles for 376 days before Friday’s bloody rescue attempt, in which Martin Burnham and a Filipina nurse were killed. Gracia Burnham herself was injured.

The couple, who had been doing missionary work in the Philippines for the past 15 years, were abducted on May 27 last year along with 18 others while vacationing at the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan to celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary.

They were then taken by boat to Basilan, where the rebels later abducted 21 other locals. The rest of the hostages were either released after alleged ransom payments or were killed.

Late Monday, after a three-hour trip by chartered bus, the family arrived in Rose Hill, a small town 24 kilometers from Wichita. Hundreds lined the main street in welcome, clapping and singing "God Bless America."

Yellow ribbons were tied to trees and American flags lined the drive to the house. Well-wishers carried signs that said "We didn’t forget" and "Martin and Gracia - heroes of faith."

The three children have been living in Rose Hill, Kansas, at the home of Martin Burnham’s parents, Paul and Oreta Burnham.

The body of Martin Burnham, who was 42, had been flown to a US military base in Japan. A memorial service for him was scheduled for tomorrow in Wichita, Kansas.