Former hostage Barry Rosen, who was held captive in Iran for 444 days, says the three Americans freed from captivity in North Korea on Wednesday, likely will need treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder.
"I think the possibility they were isolated during captivity is pretty strong. There’s a good possibility of PTSD during captivity," Rosen told Newsmax TV’s "America Talks Live," referring to the frightening mental disorder that can develop in people who have experienced a traumatic situation.
"And I think that all three gentlemen obviously will need assistance as they move on from captivity to freedom."
Rosen was press attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 when he and 51 other Americans were seized by militants angry the deposed Shah of Iran had been let into the U.S. for medical treatment. After being brutalized with beatings and mock executions, they were freed in 1981 when Ronald Reagan took office.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced that Kim Dong-chul, Kim Hak-song and Tony Kim — Korean-Americans who had been detained for more than a year in North Korea for alleged anti-state activities — were on their way back to the U.S. with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The releases came as Trump and Kim Jong Un prepare for an upcoming meeting to discuss denuclearization.
Asked about how the newly-freed trio might feel as they were being transported home, Rosen, now 73, recalled his own experience as he jetted back to the U.S. on Jan. 20th 1981.
"I thought it was almost a wild dream, or a nightmare, and I didn’t come to terms with it until the actual landing,” Rosen told Newsmax hosts Miranda Khan, John Cardillo and Gina Loudon. "I was still trying to get over being free and what my life was going to look like when I returned."
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Rosen said he does not agree with President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal hammered out under President Barack Obama.
"We have no idea what will happen … The issue is whether Iran will start nuclear enrichment. I don’t believe you could have gotten any better agreement," Rosen said.
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