Trees Planted in Poignant Tribute : Families of Hostages in Beirut Hold Memorial

In a subdued but poignant display of emotion, the families of the American hostages being held in Lebanon planted trees at a Westminster park Friday.

In addition to their own relatives, the families paid tribute to Peter Kilburn, the American hostage who was killed in Beirut last week in retaliation for the U.S. bombing of Libya.

The Rev. Benjamin Weir, one of the seven Americans kidnaped in Beirut in the past two years and the only one thus far to be freed, remembered his friend and fellow hostage as “a quiet, gentle person under the trees . . . always with a ready smile.”

“His tone and focus were always outward. He was a deeply caring person. We miss Peter and we miss the other hostages,” Weir said of Kilburn, who will be buried in San Francisco on Tuesday.

Holding Back Tears

Weir, who was released last October, also asked the crowd to strive for “commitment to peace-making in our time.”

Kilburn’s niece, Patty Little, planted a tree in Kilburn’s honor. Holding back her tears, she also planted a cross with her uncle’s picture at the foot of the tree. As television crews and newspaper photographers followed her movements and a crowd of about 500 people looked on, she quickly walked away and fell, sobbing, into the arms of her husband, Lance.

The bodies of Kilburn, 62, and two British journalists were discovered a week ago in Beirut. This week, British hostage Alec Collett was reported hanged by a Muslim extremist group, which released a videotape of a body that the group identified as Collett.

Four other Americans are being held in Beirut by another Muslim group, Islamic Jihad. They are David P. Jacobsen of Huntington Beach, the director of the American University Hospital in Beirut; the Rev. Lawrence Jenco, a Roman Catholic priest; Thomas Sutherland, the dean of the university’s agriculture school, and Terry A. Anderson, a correspondent for Associated Press.

Criticism Repeated

One other American, diplomat William Buckley, is also missing in Lebanon.

As the families gathered in Orange County this week, they repeated their criticism of President Reagan’s decision to order U.S. planes to attack Libya.

“It is apparent to me that the jeopardy and danger of the other hostages has highly increased,” Weir said. “I think it is a very desperate situation.”

Little said she was not angry with the President but felt “very disappointed in him. I would have wanted for him to have shown more concern and care (for the hostages). I feel really let down by him.”

The families came to Orange County because of the Hy-Lond Convalescent Home in Westminster. The home’s residents “adopted” the hostages last summer and have held continual prayer sessions asking for their safe return.