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Jerry and Sis Levin
A fellow was being tarred, feathered and ridden out of town on a rail. He said, "If it weren't for the honor of the thing, I'd rather walk." Thus Jeremy Levin refers to his kidnapping in Beirut on March 7, 1984 and being held hostage. His eventual escape and safe return to the United States constituted high personal drama. On another level, the activities of Levin and his wife Lucille (Sis) since his return have unusual political overtones.
The day of Levin's kidnapping began like any other. Middle East Bureau Chief of Cable News Network, with headquarters in Beirut, he left his apartment by foot for his office. He never arrived. A soft invitation to enter a car that had pulled alongside his was reinforced by a gun barrel in his belly. Jerry Levin entered the car and left the normal world. For nearly a year he saw only dreary rooms while chained to walls or radiators. Blindfolded much of the time, told almost nothing by his captors, he worried about Sis and wondered what was going on. Upon release he first learned that President Reagan had been reelected an that his hometown Detroit Tigers had won...