Three American hostages, who were rescued from Colombian rebels, have returned unharmed to the U.S. They were transported to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, in order to take some tests. According to The Associated Press, their plane crashed in the jungle in February 2003.

Wednesday night, Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell were brought at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio by an An Air Force C-17. The three government contractors have been held hostages by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) since their 2003 crash.  

The rescue operation started when some Colombian spies managed to convince leftist rebels to release them, along with presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt who was kidnapped. Another 11 Colombian hostages were rescued. It is believed that the rebel group has about 750 hostages in its camps.

While the three contractors were in an aerial counternarcotics mission, their plane had some mechanical problems and they were forced to make an emergency landing. FARC members spotted the plane and captured the men.

Adm. James Stavridis, commander of the U.S. military's Southern Command praised the Colombian security forces for the success of the rescue operation.

“My deepest congratulations to the Colombian security forces, who executed a brilliant operation to successfully free the hostages,” said James Stavridis, according to CNN.

Because the U.S. government said that FARC was a terrorist group, there was no negotiation involved. The families of the three men blamed the government for not taking action.

The three Americans seemed to be in good shape, although U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield said that two of them were suffering from the jungle malady leishmaniasis.