the South American country . `` They do n't recognize humanity , they do n't recognize human rights . They 're animals . They 're terrorists , '' Stansell said of the FARC . `` We do n't want to exaggerate what happened . We just want to tell the truth . '' The men painted a gruesome picture of their captivity , describing months in which they were ordered not to speak to each other and an initial campsite where they lived with a rat 's nest above them . They slept on the floors of drug labs and were forced to march for hours while chained . Chains were very much a part of their captivity . `` That was put around my neck every night , '' Stansell told Headline News ' Robin Meade on Thursday , holding a heavy industrial lock . `` This lock , with 5 meters of chain -- thick , 1-inch links -- went to his neck , '' Stansell said , pointing at Gonsalves . `` We slept like that , '' he said . Watch how the rescue surprised the hostages '' Gonsalves also held small wooden chess pawns he
SAN ANTONIO , Texas -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Three Americans rescued last week from captivity in the Colombian jungle will return to their homes Saturday , the U.S. Army South said . Left to right , Keith Stansell , Marc Gonsalves and Thomas Howes talk about spending more than 5 years as hostages . Marc Gonsalves , Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell have been undergoing a reintegration process at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio , Texas , since their return 10 days ago to the United States . The men were among 15 hostages , including former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt , who were rescued July 2 in a Colombian military operation . The men carried with them a metal lock , a bullet and a chess board made of cardboard -- small items that are reminders of the years they spent away from their families , cut off from the world outside the jungle , seeing only fellow hostages and their captors , the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -LRB- FARC -RRB- . The group had held the three U.S. government contractors hostage since February 2003 , after their plane crashed in a remote region of