Thank you, America.

Dateline: Camp Victory. US troops free hostage held in Iraq

Multi-National Division Soldiers captured a kidnapper and freed a hostage being held for ransom Oct. 9 after being tipped off by residents of Northern Baghdad’s Adhamiyah neighborhood.

Members of the 2nd BCT, 82nd Airborne Division, conducted the operation which freed Majhid Hamid Majeed, a 33-year-old shop owner and father of five, from the confines of the tiny, squalid room where he was being held hostage.

Majeed had been abducted the previous day by kidnappers who beat him and threatened to kill him unless his family paid a $10,000 ransom. As word about the kidnapping spread through the community, a Concerned Citizen called a local tip line with information about the identities of the kidnappers.

A platoon from Troop C, 3rd Battalion, 7th Cavalry was on patrol when the tip came in. The patrol was immediately redirected to the residence the kidnappers were supposedly using as their base. When the Soldiers burst through the door, the kidnapper who was guarding Majeed literally jumped out of his shoes and made a break for the roof, said Hot Springs, Ark., native Staff Sgt. Jeremy Hand. The Soldiers caught him before he could make it out of the house.

For Orlando, Fla., native Spc. Thomas Anderson, a medic who had taken part in the operation, seeing Majeed reunited with his family was a gratifying sight.

“This guy has got five kids, and he gets to go home to them tonight because of us. That makes you feel pretty good,” Anderson said.

It sure does make you feel good. (I liked the part where the kidnapper was so freaked out that he jumped out of his shoes.

Thanks to our American GI's and their valiant allies.