AP _ Less than 48 hours since the heroic rescue of US Navy Captain Richard Phillips, it appeared America was liberated from the savage Somali pirates of the Indian Ocean.
Then they got Chambers.
Late Tuesday night, American engineer turned seaman, Matthew Ryan Chambers, 27, was captured by a gang of 5 booty starved (like the treasure) Somalis off the Gulf of Aden. Reports are still unclear as to how Chambers was captured, though from preliminary findings, it is said that Chambers actually volunteered to be a hostage.
`He came down to my room and told me he was going out with friends,' said Brussels Gonzalez, a co-worker of Chambers. `When I asked him `With who?', he said `pirates'.
According to Gonzalez, after closing the door, he heard Chambers say `Hey, DitSnig, see how high you can shoot that Bazooka'. Gonzalez then heard an explosion followed by a Chambers cackle.
Chambers, known for his eccentric behavior and friendships with dragonflies, was on lookout duty for the evening with his partner Zeke Bloodpuddle. According to Bloodpuddle, when Chambers saw the pirates approaching, he mumbled `I hope they get high'.
When the Pirates pulled close, Chambers gave the international `Y'all smoke?' signal, pinching his thumb and index finger to his mouth, as if taking a hit from a marijuana joint.
`When Matt did the pot-smoke signal, the pirates put their guns down, smiled and Matt helped them aboard,' said Bloodpuddle. `When I told them that no marijuana was allowed on the vessel, one of the pirates shot my leg off with an Ak-47. Then Matt picked up my leg and threw it in the ocean. He threw it far. I bet I won't get it back. I bet.'
The Somalis and Chambers formed a circle and, as appreciation for his hospitality, the Somalis offered Chambers the first hit, or`greens', of a type of marijuana called `genocide', given the name because it is known to wipe everybody out.
According to Bloodpuddle, the Somalis began telling Chambers of a party in the Mombasa cove. Chambers accepted the invitation and offered to wear a blindfold, which, in Somalia, is a symbol of a guest of honor.
President Obama is yet to comment on the plans for the rescue of this true American Hero.
- AP
