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POW’s Voice on Iraqi TV Told His Wife All Was Well

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

When Iraqi captors forced Chief Warrant Officer Guy Hunter to denounce the Gulf War in front of a television camera, for the briefest instant he imitated his favorite character, the bumbling Inspector Clouseau of “Pink Panther” fame.

It was Hunter’s subtle signal to his wife, Mary, that he was fine and that he was following orders when he assumed his Peter Sellers voice to stiltedly call the war “crazy.”

In a 20-minute telephone conversation Wednesday morning with his wife--the first since his Jan. 18 capture by Iraqis--Hunter disclosed some details of his 47-day ordeal.

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For all but two days, Hunter was held in solitary confinement, Mary Hunter said. Given only one blanket, Hunter was cold most of the time. And the relentless bombings that led to his eventual release Tuesday were among the most frightening moments of his life, he told his wife.

Surrounded by a throng of jostling reporters and 14 television cameras in a news conference held at an Oceanside park, Mary Hunter described her conversation with her husband of 14 years, whom she jokingly calls “Mr. Hunter.”

“He said, ‘You don’t know how wonderful it is just to hear your voice.’ He was laughing with me and told me how much he loved me and he couldn’t wait to get me . . . “ she said, neglecting to finish her sentence.

Mary Hunter appeared calm and poised as she fielded a barrage of questions. At the close of the 40-minute conference, Marine officials hustled her off to a waiting police car, which returned her to her Camp Pendleton home.

While Mary Hunter braved the media, Cindy Acree, wife of former POW Lt. Col. Clifford M. Acree, had a more private celebration at her Oceanside home. In a statement, she said she was elated to see her husband walk off a plane that arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

“I’ve always said that our wedding day was the happiest day of my life, but this may top even that,” Cindy Acree said. “I knew Cliff’s strength and our love together would get him through his most trying times.”

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Acree, 39, was piloting an OV-10 Bronco plane when it was downed in the southeastern Kuwaiti desert. Hunter, 46, who has been in the Marines for 29 years, was the observer in the turboprop aircraft. He was scouring the barren ground to mark targets and to assess the enemy’s position.

When the two-seat aircraft crashed, Acree and Hunter were snared by Iraqi soldiers. The two Camp Pendleton-based Marines were among the first prisoners taken in the war and among the last to be released.

A day after Acree and Hunter were taken hostage, the two--along with one other American and four allied prisoners--were forced to issue statements before a television camera. The footage of the seven uniformed and bruised-looking men denouncing the war shocked the world but brought a certain relief--as well as a new set of anxieties--to their families, who had thought they might be dead.

In his statement, Hunter’s voice changed as he denounced the conflict, saying, “I think this war is crazy.” Mary Hunter immediately knew that her husband was in good shape, and she told military authorities so. But that fact was not disclosed for fear that his captors would punish him if they learned he had been signaling his wife rather than criticizing his country.

“His favorite person is Peter Sellers,” Hunter said. “He talks to me a lot like that (doing an imitation). When we go to an English restaurant, he talks to the waitresses in an English accent.”

Guy Hunter, whom friends describe as a funny, outgoing man, can also do French and Spanish accents.

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“That’s just his personality,” Mary Hunter said. So when Hunter issued his televised statement, “he was doing that to let me know so I could share it with all of you,” she said. “But I really couldn’t do that.”

For Mary Hunter, that one signal was the last communication she had with her husband until his 9:30 a.m. phone call Wednesday. He then explained to her that he had slipped into his Peter Sellers imitation to fool his Iraqi captors.

“He said that he was told he had to say that,” she said. If he hadn’t obeyed, he would have gotten “in very deep trouble.”

Hunter also told his wife that he had not been beaten. When asked if he had been given enough to eat, he replied that his “clothes will fit him nicely,” she said.

Cold and physically uncomfortable, Hunter spent much of his time “soul searching,” Mary Hunter said.

While kept in solitary confinement, Hunter never bathed, combed his hair or brushed his teeth. When he was finally released March 5, he “looked like a jungle man,” his wife said.

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For Hunter, his captivity ended as abruptly as it began. He spent two nights in the company of another prisoner, he told his wife. On the third night, an Iraqi soldier came up and said, “Today, you go,” Mary Hunter recounted. “That’s all he knew.”

Asked whether Hunter might now consider leaving the military for a less hazardous civilian job, Mary Hunter said she doubts it. “He belongs to the Marine Corps--he doesn’t belong to me,” she said, smiling.

Mary Hunter, mother of three children ranging in age from 7 to 12, is making plans for her husband’s homecoming. Perhaps a trip to the wine country after a night at the Hotel del Coronado, where they spent their honeymoon, she said.

Though still uncertain about when she will actually see her husband, she said her “bags are packed” in case she must fly to meet him.

“When he gets back, we are going to share a few Iraqi jokes,” she said. “We are going to have quality family time again.”

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