"Grab your things, you're leaving." With those words, delivered briskly by a prison commander, American Mercenary Eugene Hasenfus learned that he was a free man. A few hours later, the baggy-eyed gunrunner savored his first taste of liberty since his plane was downed over Nicaragua on Oct. 5 while delivering weapons to contra rebels. Standing beside Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, he said, "Today has been a day of great surprises, a day I'll surely remember in my heart forever." By nightfall, Hasenfus was tucked away safely at the U.S. embassy in Guatemala City, and 24 hours after that he and his wife Sally were jetting home to Marinette, Wis. In the rush of events, Hasenfus paused at one point to pinch himself, then explained sheepishly, "I just wanted to see if I would wake up."
If the script sounded more like the ending of a three-hankie Christmas movie than the conclusion of a 74-day political ordeal, well, that's probably just what Daniel Ortega had in mind. By playing Santa Claus, the Nicaraguan President plainly hoped to score points with the American public at a moment when President Reagan's own Yuletide fortunes were looking bleak. "This is our Christmas and New Year's message to the American people from the people of Nicaragua," said Ortega. "It is a message of peace, and couldn't be more concrete." Washington's response was Bah, humbug! "If the Sandinistas truly want to make a gesture," snorted State Department Spokesman Charles Redman, "it should be toward those in Nicaragua who oppose their oppressive policies."
Washington's ungracious response was somewhat understandable. In Managua, Hasenfus had already served his political purpose, if not his full 30-year sentence, after being convicted by a Sandinista court Nov. 15 of terrorism and other charges. Indeed, all that the Nicaraguans could see ahead was 10,918 more days of feeding and sheltering the somber-faced cargo kicker. Moreover, Managua now had a brand new Yanqui misadventurer to deal with: Sam Nesley Hall.
An enigmatic character from Ohio, Hall, 49, was arrested Dec. 12 in a restricted military area 13 miles northeast of Managua. Sandinista officials claimed last week that he had been carrying maps in his socks of military installations at the time of his arrest. The Nicaraguan government announced that, like Hasenfus, Hall would be tried before a revolutionary court. But where Hasenfus' mission had been clear from the moment of his arrest, Hall's purpose in Nicaragua remained murky. He was permitted brief visits with a U.S. embassy official and with Connecticut Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd, who helped secure Hasenfus' release. Dodd reported that Hall "is in good health, he's being treated well." The portrait of Hall that began to emerge was of a troubled loner with a Rambo complex that has earned him the nickname Sambo. "In his imagination he was going to be Rambo, but it backfired in his face," says Thomas Posey, director of Civilian Materiel Assistance (C.M.A.), an Alabama-based paramilitary group that expelled Hall 15 months ago after he pressed the group to broaden its anti-Communist activities. Adds a U.S. official: "Hall really thought he could just walk into the bush and blast Commies."