Thomas Hargrove
Thomas Hargrove | |
|---|---|
| Born | Thomas Rex Hargrove 3 March 1944 |
| Died | 22 January 2011 (aged 66) |
| Nationality | American |
Thomas Rex Hargrove (3 March 1944
Education and career
Hargrove obtained a double degree in agricultural science and journalism from Texas A&M University in 1966.[1] He later earned a Ph.D. from Iowa State University.[3]
During the Vietnam War, he served as an officer in the United States Army and worked for the Military Assistance Command introducing the high-yield IR8 rice cultivar in Chương Thiện. Hargrove subsequently learned that the Viet Cong targeted him, but decided to let him live because of the good he was doing.[1]
After his military service, he became a writer and editor with the International Rice Research Institute.[1]
Kidnapping
In 1991, Hargrove began working for the
Hargrove was held captive by FARC-associated guerrillas in several different primitive campsites in the Colombian Andes for a total of 11 months. During this time he secretly kept a detailed diary on checkbooks and other scraps of paper he either had on him at the time of his kidnapping or that he scavenged. Being mostly illiterate and uneducated youths from farming backgrounds, his captors either did not comprehend or ignored the implications of Hargrove's meticulous documentation of his experience.
FARC's reluctance to admit that Hargrove was not in fact a CIA operative combined with the difficulties communicating with the various FARC factions made negotiating his release difficult. Despite being illegal in Colombia, his family paid two separate ransoms which eventually resulted in his release. Hargrove's captors gave him 10,000 Colombian Pesos ($USD12) and marched him two days before releasing him in or near Los Nevados National Natural Park at 10:47am, August 22, 1995.[5] Hargrove walked for several more hours before encountering a park ranger, who walked him over a mountain range to a village where he was surprised to learn that people knew his name and of his kidnapping. The villagers drove him back to his house in Cali, where he walked in on his surprised family.
Hargrove compiled his notes and published them as
Post-kidnapping
Following his release and return to the USA, Hargrove became a kidnapping and anti-terrorism consultant. He conducted training courses at the U.S.
Other works
Hargrove wrote two other books: The Mysteries of Taal: A Philippine Volcano and Lake, Her Sea Life and Lost Towns[7] about the Philippines and A Dragon Lives Forever: War and Rice in Vietnam's Mekong Delta 1969-1991, and Beyond[8] about his experiences in Vietnam.
Death
Hargrove died of a heart failure in Galveston, Texas on 22 January 2011.[1] Ten years later, his son, Miles Hargrove, would release a documentary about the kidnapping, Miracle Fishing.[9]
See also
- List of kidnappings
- List of solved missing person cases
References
- ^ a b c d e Rice, Harvey. "Obituary: Thomas Hargrove risked his life to feed world's poor". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- ^ Hargrove 2001, p. 521
- ^ Hargrove 1994, back inside cover
- ^ Hargrove 2001, p. 7
- ^ Hargrove 2001, p. 511
- ^ "Dr. Thomas R. Hargrove". Sterling Speakers. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- ^ Hargrove 1991
- ^ Hargrove 1994
- ^ Jorgenson, Todd (March 26, 2021). "Capsule reviews for March 26". Cinemalogue. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
Sources
- Hargrove, Thomas R. (1991). The Mysteries of Taal: A Philippine Volcano and Lake, Her Sea Life and Lost Towns. Manila: Bookmark Pub. ISBN 971569019X.
- Hargrove, Thomas R. (1994). A Dragon Lives Forever: War and Rice in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, 1969-1991, and Beyond. New York: Ivy Books. ISBN 080410672X.
- Hargrove, Thomas R. (2001). Long March To Freedom: Tom Hargrove's Own Story of His Kidnapping by Colombian Narco-Guerrillas. 1st Books Library. ISBN 0-7596-0518-1.
External links
- "Kidnapped U.S. Journalist Freed". New York Times. 1995.
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