Niles family eagerly awaits reunion

The couple said their son sounded tired during a call.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- Susan Coursen envisions more hugging than talking when she's reunited with her son.
"There isn't really anything I want to say to him. I just want to hug him and hug him," the Warren Avenue woman said. "And tell him that I love him."
Susan and James Coursen learned early Wednesday from a local television station that the Chinese government planned to release the 24 Americans held since April 1.
The service men and women, including their son, Shawn, 28, were held in China after their surveillance plane made an emergency landing after a midair collision with a Chinese fighter jet.
They heard from Shawn about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.
"He said, 'We're coming home.' I asked him how he was and he said, 'At least we're outta here,'" "He sounded tired," Mrs. Coursen said.
Her husband James was on an extension.
"How 'bout those Penguins?" Coursen said he asked, noting that Shawn is a big Pittsburgh Penguins hockey fan.
Call was short: The phone call lasted about four seconds, the couple said.
"It sounded like Shawn, and it didn't sound like Shawn," Coursen said. "He sounded like he'd been through a lot."
Telephone calls and in-person interviews with area and national media continued throughout the day.
Two of Shawn's nieces, Donna Kennedy, 20, and Ashley Cowger, 13, went to the grocery store and bought Fruity Pebbles for his homecoming.
The sugary breakfast cereal is one of his favorite foods, they said.
"That's one of the things he said he wanted," Donna said, referring to e-mail correspondence between Shawn and his family while he's been in China.
The Coursens don't know any details about when they'll see their son.
Wednesday wire reports said a chartered Continental 737 left Guam for Hainan island to pick up the crew. They were expected to return to Hawaii after a brief stopover in Guam.
A welcoming ceremony is expected to be at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in Washington state later this week.
This isn't the first time Shawn has been in a dangerous situation.
Gulf War vet: He served during the Gulf War, but because his job as a code decipherer often involves issues of security, the Coursens didn't know about his activities during Desert Storm.
"He just said he was there on the ground before anyone else was there," Coursen said.
The Coursens, both Trumbull County natives, returned to the area about nine years ago.
Shawn, who was born in Steubenville, grew up in Connellsville, Pa., and Valdosta, Ga. He graduated from high school in Valdosta and joined the Navy 11 years ago.
"I'm just happy," Mrs. Coursen said. "It's been just a roller coaster."