Family seeks return of kidnapped journalist
That was 2,960 days ago as of this writing. I have not heard from my brother since. No one has claimed responsibility for his detention. Every single one of those days, and every day, my family wakes up hoping, praying, that this will be the last day of his captivity.
I think of that call when I read about Austin now and how easily my name could have been next to his. I think of what he has endured in captivity and of what he has missed — all the birthdays, weddings and births, Thanksgivings and Christmases, that my family and I have celebrated without him. In dark moments I wonder if maybe, maybe, I could have been the difference. Maybe I would’ve said, “We shouldn’t get into this car,” maybe the hairs on the back of my neck would’ve stood up at the offer, and we would have gone another way. Maybe he wouldn’t have stayed so long had he felt responsible for keeping me, his scrawny, inexperienced, intellectualized little brother, safe.
I don’t dwell on those thoughts, but they have persisted. They grew beneath the slow realization that this would not be resolved quickly, that he wouldn’t be home in days, or weeks. Beneath the pride of every award he has received and every column calling for his return, they persist. The thought of what he has endured in eight years is made fresh in each one; I cannot avoid it. I could have been there.
Don’t let us lose a ninth.
No president in our history has been more personally committed than President Donald Trump to bringing home American citizens held abroad. Our president has made it clear, time and again: The return of Americans is a deeply personal priority for him. It was from him, this March, that America first heard Austin’s name said aloud by a president. My heart leapt that day. My family appreciates the powerful effort this administration is exerting to bring him home. We have felt the progress, centimeter by excruciating centimeter.
Now, as we approach a ninth holiday season with an empty seat at our family’s Thanksgiving, a ninth Christmas spent wondering if Austin can see the stars, my brothers and sisters and I implore you from the depths of our hearts: Please help.
We beg you to reach out to your representatives in Congress. Tell them the story of the brother we love. Tell them it is a priority to see Austin’s safest and soonest return. Tell them to use their power to urge the president to restore Austin to our Thanksgiving table. Every second he stays in captivity cuts a deeper wound in the hearts of my family, and we can wait no longer. Help us make this summer the last he spends alone, and give 2020 a spark of brightness we so desperately need.
Join the campaign. Ask about Austin Tice. Bring him home.
Jacob Tice is the middle son of seven siblings. His brother, Austin Tice, a freelance journalist and veteran U.S. Marine Corps officer, was kidnapped while reporting in Syria for Mcclatchy, the Washington Post, CBS and other media outlets. Learn more at Austinticefamily.com.