Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 9, 1995 TAG: 9503090072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He had an important business lunch that afternoon that he couldn't afford to miss. So he sat blindfolded with his hands tied, his jacket still on and his tie tightly in place. And he waited.
``I didn't take my jacket and tie off, because I was convinced we would be out the same day,'' Kennedy told a group of William Byrd High School seniors Tuesday.
He was wrong - 444 days wrong.
His message to students and community members during his two-day stint in the Roanoke Valley wasn't one of bitterness, but of acceptance and understanding.
``We need to listen to [Muslims], learn about them and do better ourselves as a society so we can relate together,'' Kennedy said.
Coming from a former hostage, that was hard for many in the audience to swallow. He's used to that reaction.
``Some people complained about it and said, `You should be mad,''' Kennedy said. ``We don't approve of what they did; but if we don't understand why they did it, then there's no way to prevent it from happening again.''
And that's what he has dedicated a good chunk of his freedom to doing.
Kennedy's expertise in the Middle East and his sensitivity to the region led David Wymer, supervisor of social studies for Roanoke County schools, to invite him in conjunction with Roanoke College.
``We wanted someone knowledgable about the region and someone who would present it in a positive light,'' Wymer said.
In talks at high schools in Roanoke County and Salem, and a forum sponsored by Roanoke College, Kennedy didn't disappoint.
He gave a history lesson to the students, many of whom were only 2 years old when Kennedy was taken hostage, and a refresher course to those who remember watching the story of his captivity unfold on television.
``I remember seeing his wife on television and thinking how terrible it must be for her,'' said Frances Eddy, who attended Wednesday's public forum at the Jefferson Club sponsored by Roanoke College. ``I wanted to come and see what it really was like to be a hostage.''
While his goal was promoting understanding of Islam - which he said will soon be the world's second-largest religion - he peppered his remarks with anecdotes about the time he spent cramped in a cell with two other men.
Those days, he said, were made easier, not by the ``recreation'' offered - ``Gilligan's Island'' reruns once a week - but by the letters from home and the lasagna to which the hostages occasionally were treated.
Kennedy readily admits that his life before Nov. 4, 1979, had always been easy; in fact, he calls it ``somewhat elitist.''
He went to Ivy League schools and worked for the Foreign Service. But when he was taken hostage, none of that counted.
``It didn't matter a damn. I could've been shot at any moment. It was a very humbling experience,'' he said.
He isn't resentful of the experience; in fact, he said it changed him - for the better.
``I'd been kind of an overdog, but I learned to be an underdog,'' Kennedy said. ``I learned a lesson there I wouldn't have learned otherwise.''
by CNB