Tom Cullins was a passenger on a TWA flight on June 13, 1985 coming out of Athens, Greece, an airport that was known to have less than stellar security. Most airports didn't think it was necessary. His plane was hijacked by Hezbollah extremists representing the Lebanese Shia. During the days of their captivity, what the world witnessed was shocking and brutal. Passengers were killed and tortured on the plane as it sat on the tarmac. When they were released after a negotiation that included Pres. Reagan, everyone in the USA watched this moment on national television. The passengers had witnessed violence and murder. Their families watched the live TV, television cameras catching it all.

I don't remember much about this moment these days but I do remember Tom Cullins saying several times, including in front of a hometown crowd in Burlington, Vermont, that he was no hero but merely a survivor who lived through what must have been for all of them, pure hell. He went on to become an artist and his work is available by googling his name.

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