Newbury Park Man Coming Home : Hostage Family Hails End of Wait

Mariann Robertson, daughter of former hostage Thomas W. Murry, sat in the front yard of her father’s Newbury Park home Monday with a relieved air.

“I’ve never welcomed peace of mind with so much exuberance in my life,” she said as yellow ribbons attached to trees and light poles and an American flag fluttered nearby in a stiff, hot breeze.

Robertson, her mother, a sister and several other family members are eagerly awaiting the return of Murry, 58, a Northrup field services engineer recuperating in West Germany along with 38 other former hostages of hijacked TWA Flight 847.

Jeanne Murry, the hijack victim’s wife, expressed happiness that her husband would soon return from what began as a routine business trip that went awry. “I would like to have his wings clipped, . . . but he has a job to do,” she said.

Day of Return Unknown

Robertson, 31, an Oklahoma resident who arrived in California soon after her father was taken captive, said she is not sure when Murry will return home. She speculated that it might be Thursday, after a possible White House reception.

She said Murry called home Sunday night, telling the family he was in good spirits but physically and emotionally exhausted, mainly from the weekend experience during which the hostages believed they were leaving Beirut for Syria, only to have the move delayed for 24 hours.

“Essentially, he’s just, mostly, weary,” Robertson said, adding that Murry spent most of the 15-minute telephone conversation asking how the family had weathered the incident.

It was trying, Robertson said. “I used to go to bed at night saying, ‘Dear God, I can’t do this one more day,’ ” she said. “And then, in the morning, I’d say, ‘OK, God, I can do this one more day.’ ”

‘Tempered Anger’

Accompanying the relief at knowing her father is coming home is also some indignation, Robertson said. “There is anger, but it’s tempered anger because the people that did it must have felt that they had a real reason that they needed to do such a desperate act.

“For me, I will never believe it was an appropriate way for them to get their point made,” she said, adding that she will campaign against terrorism in whatever way she can.

For the rest of the family, the hostage-taking also has been an ordeal. Relatives not only worried about the fate of Murry, but about how to handle the many questions raised by reporters who visited or called daily.

Today, though, Robertson leaves for her farm in Perkins, Okla., to settle back into a normal routine with her husband and six children.

“I’ve got kids who are tired of dad’s cooking,” she said.