Anderson, Terry (1949–)

Enduring 2,454 days of captivity, journalist Terry A. Anderson was the longest-held American during the Lebanon hostage crisis.

Anderson, a former combat correspondent in Vietnam, became the Middle East Bureau Chief for the Associated Press (AP) in 1982, covering the civil war in Lebanon and the Israeli invasion of that country from the Beirut office. By the-mid 1980s, Westerners, including several journalists, had been “disappearing” throughout Beirut, seized by anti-Western Shiite Muslim fundamentalist groups. When four Lebanese AP employees were abducted in October 1984, Anderson worked military contacts to secure their release. Colleagues of Anderson believe his fate was sealed when he appeared on Lebanese television, celebrating the return of his coworkers.

Shortly after 8 A.M. on March 16, 1985, Hezbollah claimed responsibility, stating that Anderson's kidnapping was part of a campaign to rid Muslim regions of Lebanon of “spies” masquerading as “journalists, industrialists, scientists, and men of ...