Ex-Hostage Says: Don’t Forget Others : Release: A Santa Ana man freed by Iraq because of his physical condition says he hopes to help those left behind.

Exhausted but elated, a Santa Ana man freed from Iraq after nearly three months in captivity touched down in Southern California on Thursday evening with words of thanks. But Jack Frazier said of the fellow captives he left behind: “We can’t forget them--it’s that simple.”

“I know in their hearts, they were asking, ‘Why not me?’ ” said the 53-year-old Frazier.

The reason Iraqi officials gave in releasing Frazier earlier this week was his physical condition: He is a diabetic who takes oral medication and has a history of heart problems.

His release, along with 13 other Americans with medical conditions, was seen by U.S. diplomats as a “goodwill gesture” by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, aimed at defusing opposition to his regime under the guise of humanitarianism.

But when Frazier got off his plane shortly before 6 p.m. at Los Angeles International Airport with his three children and grandchild, he did not want to discuss politics. Instead, after greeting several in-laws and other family members with tearful hugs, his focus was on the remaining hostages--or “special guests,” as their Baghdad captors term them.

He pledged to make their release his highest priority now that he is back in the United States. They must be kept “on the front burner,” he said, in order to “get them home.”

Frazier, a construction supervisor at a Bechtel Corp. refinery project in Iraq, had arrived in New York late Wednesday and spent the night there. Drinking a beer with his two sons was one of his first acts as a free man, he said.

Passengers from New York who shared Frazier’s plane stepped into the airport terminal in a daze as they were met by TV cameras and photographers.

During a 10-minute press conference, Frazier said he appreciated all the media attention but was too tired to talk at length.

“I’ve been on an emotional roller coaster along with a thousand other people for the last 2 1/2 months, seven days a week, 24 hours a day,” he said.

The nights were the toughest, he said.

While free to move about the “safe house” where he stayed, Frazier said: “There’s no such thing as eight hours’ sleep. . . . You have no control of the night. . . . You really don’t know what to expect. You don’t feel very comfortable.”

Still, he said, he holds no animosity toward the Iraqi people.

“I have no reason to be mad at them,” he said. And when asked about his treatment in the Middle East, he said: “I want to make that very clear--I was not mistreated at all.”

Frazier said his future plans are somewhat uncertain. He said he hopes to return to work at Bechtel and will know more about his physical condition today after he goes to the doctor.

Family members, meanwhile, said they want to do everything they can to keep him close to home. His fiancee, Deanna Frizelle, who had driven from Montana to meet the plane, had even joked about bringing a minister to the airport to tie the knot right there. In tears at the airport, a relieved Frizelle said: “I have him physically but not quite mentally--his mind is still back with his friends.”