‘He did it for us’: US soldier recalls Jesse Jackson’s efforts to free him and two other POWs

(Bernd Debusmann Jr – BBC) It was May 1999, and US Army sergeant Andrew Ramirez had been held captive for over a month by Yugoslav forces, enduring days of dark confinement and interrogations. Just a few weeks earlier, Ramirez and two other soldiers had been on a routine patrol near the Macedonian-Yugoslav border during the war in nearby Kosovo when they unexpectedly bumped into enemy forces and surrendered after a brief firefight. From captivity, Ramirez had little idea that a behind-the-scenes effort was underway to secure the release of the three US prisoners, he told the BBC in an interview. Leading that effort – against the wishes of the White House – was Reverend Jesse Jackson, who died aged 84 on Tuesday. – ‘He did it for us’: US soldier recalls Jesse Jackson’s efforts to free him and two other POWs