Santa Ana Man, 4 Other Ex-Hostages Arrive in U.S. : Middle East: One, identified as a Marine sergeant, praises President Bush for his tough talk.

Five former Persian Gulf hostages, including a Santa Ana construction worker, came home Wednesday night, with one praising his tough-talking President and all worrying about the fate of captives they left behind Iraq and Kuwait.

They were among 14 Americans--mostly ailing or elderly--brought out of Baghdad on Wednesday through the efforts of an American-Iraqi group.

“I’m very elated to be at home,” said Lloyd Graham, one of five American men who arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport at 8:10 p.m. aboard a Royal Jordanian flight.

“The celebration won’t start until all our friends and colleagues can come home, too,” the 48-year-old Houston man told an airport news conference.

Graham, who suffers from arteriosclerosis and has undergone two quadruple bypass surgeries, appeared in good health, as did the others.

Also on the flight was Jack Frazier, 53, of Santa Ana, who said he had been in Iraq doing construction work when the country invaded neighboring Kuwait.

Frazier told reporters that leaving the other hostages behind “was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

“I’m glad to be home. Morale is great,” said a man who wouldn’t give his name. He was identified by others at the news conference as Mark Ward of Middletown, N.J., a Marine sergeant attached to the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.

“George, keep up the good work,” he said, apparently having heard of the President’s statements about the crisis. “It’s great to be back.”

After the invasion, the men stayed in private homes in the Baghdad area through U.S. Embassy arrangements. They said the Iraqis knew where they were.

Frazier, Graham, Ward, Larry Murray and John Thompson were allowed to leave because either they or their relatives have medical problems, they said.

Murray’s wife, Sandy, who lives in the Houston area, said she “talked to him briefly and he seems to be doing very well. He’s ready to come home.”

The trip was engineered by seven members of the American-Iraqi Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based group of U.S. citizens of Iraqi descent, who met with Saddam Hussein for 2 1/2 hours Sunday.