World Wide Photo THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Hooded Shi'ite Moslems, who were identified as the original hijackers, at a press conference in Beirut. CONSTANT ATROCITIES For nearly five hours, the passengers were required to keep their heads down, hands over their heads. Anyone who moved was beaten with a gun butt. Still, Richard began to mumble to others about resistance. He began by whispering to the passenger next to him to read the in- structions on the nearby emergency exit door in case of a fast getaway. Together they mentally practiced the instructions. Just when the other pas- senger whispered to Richard, "I understand it," a hi- jacker saw the exchange and screamed "Why speak!" At that he ordered Richard and Sue Ellen to separate. Rich- ard did not answer, but they had no choice. They kissed. Richard wanted to hold on, but he had to let go and say good-bye. Like other men and "talkers" who appeared dangerous, Richard was in- structed to sit on the window. Sue Ellen was escorted to a forward aisle seat, and pistol- whipped on the head as she sat down. During the next several hours, from her vantage point closer to the front of the plane, Sue Ellen witnessed constant atrocities. The Navy men were tied up and beaten with an armrest broken off a first class seat. The young man beaten most severely was Navy diver Robert Stethem. Sue Ellen recalls, "When the hijackers asked him if he was a Marine, he answered 'Navy,' and he answered proud. And they beat him so badly." Tortured yelps and screams electrified everyone within earshot. "Stethem could barely walk," recalls Herz- berg. "His shoulder looked like it was separated, his neck was bleeding. He looked like he had a concussion." Stethem was seated just two rows in front of Sue Ellen when he was shot between the eyes with the chrome- plated pearl handled 9 mm handgun. It took him five minutes to die. As the ordeal continued, the hijackers patrolled the aisles and randomly pistol- whipped passengers as they passed. Sometimes they would crush lit cigarettes on But in fact, Derickson re- fused to identify for the hi- jackers which names sounded Jewish. This forced the hi- jackers themselves to try to spot the Jewish people on board. But after being handed the chosen passports, Derickson was coerced into reading the names aloud. THE SELECTION The Jewish selection oc- cured during the second of three landings in Beirut. First, the hijackers com- municated with their com- rades in the Shi'ite neigh- borhoods adjacent to the air- port. Rather than rely upon the airplane's communication equipment, a wireless tele- graph key was set p at the rear of the plane for some sort of Morse code. At about 4 a.m., the hi- jackers read off the "Jewish" names. When Richard heard his name called, "I thought I was dead," he remembers. "I peoples necks. At one point they played "Russian Rou- lette" with a passenger, pointing the gun barrel di- rectly at his head. The endless brutalities con- vinced Richard, who has a degree in psychology, that the two Arab terrorists "were wired with either speed or co- caine. They had to be to engage in 36 hours of nonstop unbelievable manic behav- ior," says Richard. World Wi th Photo control by kicking, pistol- whipping and beating men and women alike. "These guys were professional," declares Herzberg. "They knew exactly what they were doing. If there's a training school for hijackers, they must have gone to it. Within fifteen minutes, there was no question in anybody's mind who was in charge. The only question was how fast do you want us to do it." next one in, a passenger, who brought it back to the ter- rorist. "That confused me," admitted Herzberg. "I don't know what I would have done in the same situation. They really did have a lot of hand grenades without pins. These guys were suicidal. If a grenade exploded at 30,000 feet, that would be it." Until her unexpected de- parture in Algiers, Sue Ellen was certain the hijackers would discover that she was Jewish, and subject her to the same brutalities meted out to Stethem and others. In Richard's carry-on bag was a copy of the wedding cer- tificate signed by Norfolk Rabbi Israel Borenstein. And Sue Ellen's bag con- tained wedding thank-you cards imprinted "With God's Help" in Hebrew. Among them were many addresses in Israel. "Sh'ma Yisrael," chanted Sue Ellen repeatedly, certain that death was at hand. Friday, July 19, 1985 41 `SHWA YISRAEL' At some point, the simple mechanics of life became an issue. Six hours into the flight, no one had yet gone to the bathroom. The girl next to Herzberg cried that she had diarrhea. "I told the poor girl there is just no way," recalls Herzberg. "Go in your pants if you have to." Women were finally al- lowed to go to the front lava- tory, after the door handle had been removed so the ter- rorists could observe at gun- point all activities. Men were sent to the rear lavatory. Their door was kept open. It was at this point that Rich- ard caught his first glimpse of Sue Ellen since their separation, and was gratified that she was safe. Ironically, at one point, one of the hijackers had used the bathroom himself and ac- tually left his gun on the floor. It was noticed by the The hijacked TWA jet taxies past the wreckage of a Jordanian plane after landing for the third time at Beirut International Airport du;-ing the crisis. But throughout the ordeal, started praying, talking to Richard maintained he was God, asking him please do Lutheran, of German and anything but don't make me Greek ancestry, and Sue be a hostage in Beirut. All I Ellen was not found out. could think about was living Sue Ellen's anonymity was my life chained to a radiator in large part due to the somewhere in a dark room." courage of TWA purser Ule Richard understood he was Derickson. Derickson hid Sue being called because he was Ellen's passport, which bore Jewish. He expected he the maiden name "Deutsch." would now be shot. As he "Ule Derickson was her- walked down the back stairs oic," declared Richard. "And and into the still blackened she got a really bum rap over morning air of Beirut, he con- what happened. The woman fronted the reality of death saved more than one person's itself. Death had always been life, and untold others from a private horror for Herzberg beating." Derickson, of Ger- as it is for most people. But man extraction, came in for now, stepping up to meet it, criticism because she read his mind raced with the logic out the "Jewish sounding" that many people had died names, including Herzberg s. Continued on Page 62