Bernd Debusman Jr.
BBC correspondent in Washington
It was May 1999, and US Army Sergeant Andrew Ramirez had already been a prisoner in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (the union of Serbia and Montenegro) for a month, enduring days of interrogation.
Just a few weeks earlier, Ramirez and two other soldiers were on a routine patrol near the Macedonian-Yugoslav border during the Kosovo war when they unexpectedly encountered members of the Yugoslav army and surrendered after a brief exchange of gunfire.
"I was in detention and I had no idea that efforts were being made behind the scenes to have me and two other American prisoners released," he said in an interview with the BBC.
The leader of these efforts, against the wishes of the White House, was a priest Jesse Jackson, who died on February 17, 2026, at the age of 84.
At the time Ramirez was captured, members of the US-led NATO military-political alliance were just beginning to massive aerial bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, with the aim of forcing the government of then-leader Slobodan Milošević to withdraw from Kosovo.
Jackson, then 57, already had a history of what some called “private diplomacy” aimed at helping Americans abroad.
He participated in negotiations for the release of a US Navy pilot in 1984 who was captured by Syrian forces after being shot down in Lebanon, then the release of 22 Americans captured in Cuba, and the release of American citizens held by the Iraqi government in preparation for the first Gulf War.
But in early 1999, the administration of then-US President Bill Clinton was against the idea of Jackson's participation in negotiations for the release of captured soldiers in Yugoslavia, quietly warning him that the bombs would continue to fall even if he were there.
At the same time, the Yugoslav government was preparing the ground for the Illinois representative, and later the governor of that American state, Rod Blagojevic, then the only American of Serbian descent in Congress.
"The State Department wouldn't let me go. I was just a junior congressman," Blagojevich recalled in an interview with the BBC.
But at the suggestion of political consultant David Axelrod, later a senior advisor to former President Barack Obama, Blagojevich teamed up with Jackson.
Blagojevich contacted Jackson through his son, Jesse Jr.
"Jackson didn't want to go (to Yugoslavia) unless he got guarantees that he would see our soldiers, and I managed to get that."
"We were warned not to go because it was dangerous," Blagojevic recalled.
In late April, Jackson, along with Blagojevic and a multi-faith delegation, flew to Belgrade, where he met directly with Milosevic in the hope of securing the release of the three American soldiers.
"I had to explain to Milosevic what his options were and convince him of that," Jackson told the Associated Press years later.
"One of the failures of war is the failure of diplomacy, communication and trust," he added.
Ramirez and two other soldiers, Sergeant Christopher Stone and Specialist Steven Gonzalez, were unaware that someone was trying to negotiate their release.
"Without any explanation [the Yugoslavs] came and took us away. They took us, handcuffed and everything, into a room."
"I saw the cameras from CNN and some other news agencies," Ramirez said.
“And there was Reverend Jesse Jackson,” he added.
"We had no knowledge, no idea what was happening."
"Later I joked to him that at the time I thought: 'Well, this is not normal, they even captured Father Jackson!'"
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Behind the scenes, negotiations were tense.
"It was a frenetic three or four days," Blagojevic says.
"Milošević initially offered to release one or two soldiers."
"Jackson was adamant. He said we wouldn't just take one or two, but all or none."
"Jesse Jackson was a central figure," the former Illinois governor added.
"I was just a man carrying suitcases," says Blagojevic, who posted a photo from those negotiations in Belgrade on the X network on the occasion of Jackson's death.
The picture shows Milošević, himself, Jackson and several other people standing in a circle, holding hands, in a kind of collective prayer.
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The Yugoslav authorities relented.
The soldiers were released on May 1 and crossed into neighboring Croatia with Jackson and his delegation on May 2 before being flown to a US base in Germany.
“[Jackson] was very confident,” Ramirez recalls of their first meetings.
“He said he wouldn’t leave without us and that our families in the United States were cheering for us.
"He wanted to reassure us that we were safe and that he was going home with us."
About a year after his release, Ramirez left the military and returned to his native California.
He stayed in touch with Jackson, and once went to Chicago to introduce him to his newborn son.
He was occasionally seen at events across America.
When he heard that Jackson had passed away, he said he was "heartbroken"
"He did something for us, and he didn't have to do it," Ramirez says.
"I truly believe he did it because he saw someone who needed help and felt he could intervene."
"He did it for us and for our families. We are forever grateful to him."
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