American Hostage’s Family: No Room for Pessimism

The three children of David P. Jacobsen, the Huntington Beach hospital director kidnaped last week in Beirut, are holding to faith that their father will eventually be released unharmed.

For Eric, Paul and Diane Jacobsen, that belief is simply a matter of adhering to their father’s philosophy.

“To quote my dad, ‘Wait to worry.’ That’s what he always says. We’re going to follow our dad’s advice,” said Eric, 28, who works for a medical services firm.

Signs of Concern

It is not that they are not worried. Their concern is reflected in somber expressions and hushed tones as they speak. But the Jacobsens, at this point, are hoping for the best.

“Hopefully, we will see our dad soon,” Eric said. “There is no reason to think that he will not return (safely).”

The three younger Jacobsens sat quietly in Eric’s Huntington Beach apartment one evening this week. It was their first interview since May 28, when their father was whisked away by six masked gunmen as he walked to his office at the American University Hospital in West Beirut. They described their father as a man with a deeply rooted faith in humanity who inspired the same belief in them.

“He’s a faithful person, and I think that’s helping him now . . . just as it’s helping all of us,” said Diane, 24, a hair stylist.

The group Islamic Jihad (Islamic Holy War) has claimed responsibility for the abduction of Jacobsen, 54, who has been director of the American teaching hospital in the Muslim sector of West Beirut since last December. The group, which also has said it is holding hostage four other Americans kidnaped during the past year, earlier this week released a photograph to show that Jacobsen was still alive.

Aside from that, American officials in Beirut have no knowledge of Jacobsen’s condition.

On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department released in Lebanon a statement in which the three younger Jacobsens asked the kidnapers to release their father.

“It’s a statement saying simply that we are deeply worried about his safety and that we want him released (unharmed),” Eric said.

Jacobsen’s former wife, Sara Jacobsen, from whom he was divorced a few years ago, also has appealed to President Reagan and Secretary of State George Shultz to intercede, in an effort to pressure the captors to release Jacobsen.

The Jacobsen children, who declined to be photographed, said they have shunned publicity since their father’s abduction because Jacobsen’s ordeal as a hostage is what they feel is most important.

“The way we feel, we’d rather keep the attention on our dad, not centered on us and what we’re going through,” Eric said.

“This is a time where we have to show some courage, just like a lot of people have to, but I don’t think it’s anything special,” added Paul, 26, who is a teacher.

Diane, the youngest, displayed more emotion than her brothers. At times fighting back tears, she said she was especially close to her father.

“I knew that he was always there if I ever needed him,” said Diane. She added that working at two jobs has helped her keep busy while awaiting news of her father.

“It’s on my mind constantly, but (work is) helping me to keep busy,” she said.

David Jacobsen, who has spent most of his educational and professional career in Southern California, was administrator of Alhambra Community Hospital. He went to Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, in April, 1982, as administrator of a military hospital there. He left that post in October, 1983, and joined American University Hospital in Beirut a year later.

Although initial news reports after the abduction described Jacobsen as an “adventurer,” his children did not portray him as such. They said he went to Beirut because of his compassion and the challenge that working in Lebanon posed for him.

“These jobs (overseas) were challenges that were different from what he had here,” Paul said.

Described Challenge

Jacobsen last visited his children two weeks before his abduction, on a business trip to the United States. They said he described conditions in Lebanon and the great challenge facing the hospital in helping those wounded in the war in Beirut.

“He told me this was the most gratifying job he had ever had,” Diane said.

Eric said, “He felt he was really helping there . . . helping the innocent people there. That’s what makes it so hard to believe. He wanted to stay very low-key. He never left the campus. He was working seven days a week.”

Eric also said that during their father’s most recent visit, he assured them that he felt safe in Beirut, despite the constant battles that raged within earshot of the hospital.

“He never downplayed the war, but he did not give us any war stories either,” Eric said.

Paul said his father was aware of the dangers an American faced living and working in Beirut. His father was there only for “humanitarian reasons,” not because of political motivations, Paul said.

“He’s in no way a hero,” Paul said. “I think he always kept in mind that this (war) was something these people had lived with for a long time.”