Blackwater Rescues Christians From Kenya Violence
From left, Aubrie VanderMey, Jamie Cook and Brittanie VanderMey arrive at Gerald R. Ford International Airport after leaving Kenya.
Dude…they got out just in time, methinks.
Good job, Blackwater.
GRAND RAPIDS — Just happy to be home.
That is how three South Christian High School graduates, who spent the last month in Kenya, felt this afternoon after they arrived at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport.
“I’m just glad to be home,” said an ecstatic Brittanie Vander Mey, 21. A plane carrying Brittanie, sister Aubrey, 19, and friend Jamie Cook, 20, touched down around 4:30 p.m., the final leg of a journey that lasted more than two days.
The young women had spent a month working at an orphanage in Kimilili, in western Kenya. But as political violence gripped part of the country, they were forced to flee. The three were evacuated by Blackwater Worldwide, a private security firm with ties to Holland.
Jamie Cook said, while she did not want to leave the country, she grew concerned about her safety when she learned a rally was being planned for their area this week.
“Kimilili is going to get wiped out,” Cook said, after hugging and kissing a throng of family and friends who awaited them at the airport.
Brittanie Vander Mey said her scariest moment was leaving the orphanage compound and traveling by car for 40 minutes to a small plane that transported them to Nairobi.
“I was worried because there were roadblocks, and you just didn’t know,” she said.
Days earlier, a group from the orphanage had been stopped by people armed with machetes and had to pay a steep amount to get away.
“I was really scared about that.”
She credits their Blackwater agent for getting them out smoothly. Blackwater, founded by Holland native Erik Prince, provides training in Kenya.
The sisters’ father, Dean Vander Mey, called the Prince family for assistance when it was clear the women needed help getting home. The rescue, done for free, is among about 150 rescues in Kenya and the Middle East with which the firm has assisted.
The Vander Meys planned to celebrate tonight. Brittanie and Aubrey’s mother made chicken soup to welcome her daughters home.
Jamie Cook’s mother, Marguerite Herrema, said she knew exactly how she would spend the next couple hours.
“Rest. Put our feet up, have some supper together and listen to Jamie’s stories,” she said.
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Usually, chicks who do Peace Corps or NGO type stuff are never as hot as in the movies. But these ladies. Hmmm…
January 8th, 2008 at 8:21 pmBlackwater evil, until white bitches need them.
January 8th, 2008 at 8:37 pmHoly shit, Erick Prince’s boys are gods!
That was pretty fuckin’ brave of them. I like mercs, at least the honorable ones, and Blackwater has certainly earned some honor over the last few years.
One thing, though, I thought Prince was a US native. Don’t hear of many Dutch joining the SEALs, is all.
January 8th, 2008 at 9:06 pmUsually, chicks who do Peace Corps or NGO type stuff are never as hot as in the movies.
They aren’t lib chicks.
They’re missionary chicks. Totally different. My church does a lot of missions work. The vast majority of it is done through organizations that have fifty or sixty years worth of experience. A person will go through two th three years of specialized training before they go into the field. After that, they spend years longer assimilating themselves into the culture and doing social service work.
These girls, however, were probably doing a short-term missions trip that would last a few weeks to a few months, depending upon the specific program. They were probably working through a local church, who, I imagine, runs the orphanage. We have a sister denomination in Argentina and I know we were doing some stuff with local churches in Ethiopia. We also do a lot of other stuff, but I;m not privy to the details.
January 8th, 2008 at 9:18 pmYou can read his profile here. He’s of “Dutch heritage.” Same as Petraeus, whose parents were immigrants from the Netherlands.
January 8th, 2008 at 9:22 pmThey’re just the right age for me! Blackwater is one of the most unfairly maligned organizations in the country. I wish the assholes would attack the terrorists just as much or more than they attack Blackwater.
January 8th, 2008 at 10:08 pmGod Bless Blackwater!!
January 8th, 2008 at 10:19 pmErik Prince grew up in Holland, Michigan. It’s about 30 miles from Grand Rapids (where these ladies are from). An American, born and raised.
January 9th, 2008 at 12:14 amWhat in the hell is wrong with our country to have the audacity to think Blackwater Bad / CAIR good?
Makes you say WTF.
January 9th, 2008 at 2:05 amThank God for that.
If captured, those girls would have been kept alive in a rape prison.
Just an everyday thing in that country.
January 9th, 2008 at 2:47 amBlackwater does good-whodua thunk it??
January 9th, 2008 at 3:46 amAhh…so when they say Holland, they mean Holland Michigan.
Oh, and this is a very cool story. I’m so glad Blackwater exists. Especially after reading that other NRO piece that was posted here earlier. They are true patriots.
January 9th, 2008 at 4:10 amThink this will get much play on CNN or MSLSD? Maybe Congress? Nah….
Blackwater does alot of good things. Much of which we will never find out about. And how many of you in the military who bitch about Blackwater are familiar with LCLA? Hmmmm…thought so.
January 9th, 2008 at 6:23 amIt’s a damn good thing we have companies like Blackwater around. I can’t imagine what would happen to these fine young women if they were caught up in the wrong hands over there. Of course, our government would take too long to get them back while those animals did whatever they please. Thank God for Blackwater.
I should have waited about 6 more months before buying my 220. For a few dollars more, I could have had the Blackwater special! Maybe next time when I run into more money.
January 9th, 2008 at 9:28 amYou’ll never get most of the West to do anything constructive with Africa. Here’s a proposal: Give Blackwater or Halliburton control of an African nation. See what they do with it. Now, if some corporation tried to take over my country, I’d be pretty pissed, but I bet most Africans wouldn’t mind. Things sure as hell can’t get much worse. No one could do worse with a nation than Mugabe, that’s for sure.
January 9th, 2008 at 9:59 am@Gaige Mosher
I like mercs, at least the honorable ones
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Hell, I think even Riddick would love these “mercs” …
If the US military ain’t able to get to me and my family, I WILL be praying like hell for Blackwater to come to our rescue!
G-d bless them!
Fuck Congress and the MSM.
January 9th, 2008 at 10:17 amGreat thing about Blackwater is they can go in to rescue someone without waiting an eternity for a few hundred suits in Washington D.C. to make a decision yes or no. Just do it. I like that.
January 9th, 2008 at 2:53 pmOh noes!! Evil mercenary organization rampages over brown peeple to rescue white girls!!! Because of The EVILE!!!!11!!one!eleventy!
/leftist shitbag
January 9th, 2008 at 7:52 pmThis is a harrowing tale and there is yet another eyewitness account that leads me to believe that the situation there is on a collision course with an all out genocide…
Here is how I wrote about it…
http://theeprovocateur.blogspot.com/2008/01/kenya-in-crisis-day-15-genocide.html
January 10th, 2008 at 1:51 pmErik Prince is a Holland Michigan native, not a native to the dutch country. Don’t be confused.
January 11th, 2008 at 7:15 am