"It helped me not to see him looking pitiful," Kaye Young said. "I think that would have been more than I could stand. He really helped me in that way. He looked so strong and determined."

Sense of calm

As Ron Young and his co-pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Dave Williams, faced the enemy, Kaye Young tossed and turned in bed back at her home in Georgia.

Kaye Young knew nothing, other than the unsettling television report she watched earlier. While she slept, a calm feeling swept over her body.

"I felt like he just put his arms around me and pulled me close," Kaye Young said. "I could smell the smell he had when he was a baby. I just felt warm all over."

That feeling also confused and scared Kaye Young. She said she had never heard of anyone having that type of experience and having their child come home safely.

But she wouldn't — couldn't— believe her son was dead.

'It was a miracle'

After weeks of not knowing anything about the whereabouts of their son, the Young family finally caught a ray of hope. A TV journalist reported that seven POWs had been rescued.

Kaye, her husband, Ronald Young Sr., and two close family friends huddled around the television. A hard-to-decipher image appeared on the screen.

The scrambled picture only frustrated Kaye Young, so she started to leave the room. Just as she got up, the picture finally became clear — it was Ron.

"It was just the most unbelievable moment in my life," Kaye Young said. "The whole house was just jumping up and down and cheering. It was a miracle."

That first phone call with Ron Young after his rescue was wonderful, Kaye Young said.

"He acted like he'd just been next door somewhere," Kaye Young said. "He said, 'What ya'll doing? What's all that noise?' "

A jubilant Kaye said, "We're having a party for you. Why aren't you here?"

Outpouring of affection

The family never could have made it through the ordeal without the support of both friends and strangers worldwide, Kaye Young said.

On an average day during the first few weeks of Ron Young's capture, the Young home received 200 to 300 phone calls per day from places as far away as Saudi Arabia and Germany. Postal workers delivered up to three large baskets of mail from well-wishers every day.

About 60 people, both friends and strangers, packed the Young home daily answering phone calls and opening the mail.

"I have such good, wonderful friends," Kaye Young said.

The family also couldn't have survived without their faith, Kaye Young said. The Young family, members of the LDS Church, spent hours on their knees praying for comfort.

Kaye Young said she knows she felt the prayers of people across the world, and that Ron Young did, too.

"At a point, I began to accept God's will. That was a hard thing for me to come to. We will not be given what we want if we can't do that. Luckily, we got what we wanted."

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E-MAIL: ldethman@desnews.com