Daughter, Classmates Don Yellow Ribbons for Hostage

Because she said her hostage father would have wanted it that way, Diane Barczak’s graduation from Mission Bay High School on Tuesday evening included little mention of the plight of Jerome Barczak and the other captives of the Shia Muslim terrorists who hijacked TWA Flight 847 last week.

The 17-year-old carried a bouquet of yellow roses as “a sign of hope” that he would be home soon.

Barczak, a former San Diego resident now working as a civil engineer for General Dynamics in Cairo, intended to travel halfway around the world on the ill-fated flight to see Diane’s graduation ceremony.

Instead, he remains one of about 40 Americans held hostage somewhere in Beirut.

But his loved ones here forgot their worries for a few hours so as not to mar the commencement festivities.

As Planned

“We considered doing something special, but decided it was best to have everything go forward as planned in advance,” said Balvanera Urrea, the school principal. “Diane and her family wanted it that way. Even still, we kept hoping until the last minute that he would be released so we would have something special to celebrate.”

The bouquet Diane carried was complimented by yellow carnations worn by other family members, including Barczak’s ex-wife, Mary Ann Foglio. They sat in the front row of the audience and jumped to their feet to cheer the beaming Diane as she received her diploma and flashed a thumbs-up sign.

Each of her classmates wore a yellow ribbon--a tradition created with the Iranian hostage crisis--on his or her graduation gown, too.

Diane made an impromptu stop at the microphone to address the crowd in the high school’s football stadium.

Thanks for Ribbons

“Excuse me if my voice is a little shaky,” she said. “But I just want to thank Mission Bay for wearing the yellow ribbons. To know all of you people really care is keeping us together. And, I want to thank my family. We’re going to pull through this.”

Asked what she planned to do on graduation night, Diane, said she would “go out and party. My dad wouldn’t want me to sit at home and brood. I know he’s thinking about me, and I know he’d want me to be happy. And wherever he is, I think dad is happy for me tonight, too.”

Admitting she was “not a political person,” Diane offered no opinion on President Reagan’s handling of the hostage crisis, except to say she knew the President was “doing all he can.”

“He’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders,” she said.

The family said they had received some good news Tuesday. The State Department told them his captors had reported Barczak in good health.

“We heard he got to eat a pizza,” Diane said, “and that’s one of this favorite meals.”

While the family maintained optimism, they discussed the possibility that Barczak and the others may be in for a lengthy ordeal.

‘Will Stay Strong’

“We know dad will stay strong, because that’s the kind of person he is,” Michael, Barczak’s 21-year-old son, said. “If this thing becomes drawn out, we’re prepared to handle it. But that doesn’t change the fact that we still know absolutely in our hearts that he will be back with us safe one day.”

Meanwhile, former hostages Jose and Sylvia Delgado said they planned to “sleep about 20 hours” after arriving at their suburban Escondido home in the early morning hours Tuesday.

The retired barber and his wife were coming home from a monthlong vacation to Greece and Egypt Friday when they were caught in the hijack drama.

Sylvia was among the first 19 hostages released several hours after the jetliner was commandeered as it left Athens en route to Rome and ordered flown to Beirut. Jose was released Saturday in Algiers. The couple was reunited Sunday night at the American Embassy in Paris.

Jose Delgado said he would “rather wait until everybody is safe” before elaborating on the ordeal.

Proud of Them

But as the couple met joyous family members and reporters and photographers at Lindbergh Field, Jose, beaming at one moment and choking back tears the next, said, “I’m proud of the whole bunch (fellow passengers aboard the hijacked plane).”

Daniel Delgado, the couple’s son, said his parents were well-treated, though his mother, “was tapped on the head as the hijackers went up and down the aisles of the plane.”

He said his father had not even been aware that passenger Robert Dean Stethem, a U.S. Navy diver, had been murdered by the terrorists.

The Delgados said they were in good health, although Jose, who has a history of strokes, had not been given his proper medicine for high blood pressure.

“Being home is the greatest feeling in the world,” he said.

Asked if they would venture into the Middle East on vacation again, “Oh, yes, in a minute,” Sylvia answered with a smile.