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U.S. Prisoner Heads Home After Release from Myanmar

John Yettaw will head home after two days of health checks in Thailand

Tuesday, Aug 18, 2009 | Updated 9:30 PM EST

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U.S. Prisoner Heads Home After Release from Myanmar

AFP/Getty Images

John Yettaw is finally on his way home.

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Former prisoner John Yettaw is finally heading home after being released from a Myanmar jail several days ago, thanks to efforts by U.S. Sen. Jim Webb.

After two days of health checks in Thailand, Yettaw boarded a flight Tuesday evening bound for the United States. He was using a wheelchair and wore a face mask as he mouthed "love you" to journalists watching Yettaw get on the plane.

Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri, spent three months as a prisoner in Myanmar after he visited the home of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest in the country.

Myanmar said they freed the prisoner because of his health -- he suffers from diabetes, epilepsy and asthma.