An American writer who went missing in Libya after fighting on the front line has returned to the United States.
Matthew VanDyke, 32, from Baltimore, Maryland, was captured while on a reconnaissance mission in the north African nation and spent five months in solitary confinement in Libyan prisons.
When he finally escaped, the freelance writer and filmmaker decided to stay on the front line until the despot had fallen.
Home: Matthew VanDyke hugs his mother Sharon as he arrives in an airport near Baltimore, Maryland after fighting with rebel forces to end Muammar Gaddafi's regime in Libya
Holding up a new Libyan flag as he arrived at Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport and dressed in a military uniform, Mr VanDyke shouted: ‘Victory! We won!’
He left for Libya in February, just days after the uprising against dictator Moammar Gaddafi began.
Arriving at the airport near his home on Saturday, he revealed he had told his family he planned to document the country’s revolution for a film and book he was working on.
In fact, it was always his intention to join the uprising.
'You don’t tell your mother and girlfriend that you’re going to go fight in a war,' he explained on Saturday night.
'When I got out of (a Libyan) prison, I was going to finish what I came to do. So the past several weeks I've been in combat on the front lines in Sirte fighting Gaddafi's forces.'
Safe: VanDyke spent five months in solitary confinement in a prison in Abu Salim. He said he sang Guns N'Roses songs to himself and tried to name all the Star Trek characters to pass the time
Committed: After escaping prison, he returned to the front line to fight until Gaddafi had fallen. He shows reporters his identity card for the Hassan al-Jaber Brigade of the National Liberation Army of Libya
Mr VanDyke was met by his mother and girlfriend, who planted a kiss on his lips.
Earlier this year, Mr VanDyke was in Baltimore working on a book and film about a motorcycle trip across the Middle East and southeast Asia when friends in Libya started telling him their relatives were disappearing.
He said: 'I wasn't going to sit back and let this happen to people I care about and not do anything about it. I see how people are suffering under regimes like this and it's time for it to end.'
Mr VanDyke was on a reconnaissance mission in Brega when he was captured by Gaddafi forces.
Reunited: VanDyke kisses his girlfriend Lauren Fischer as reporters look on
'You don't tell your mother and girlfriend that you're going to go fight in a war': Fischer thought VanDyke was going to Libya to work on a book
He spent more than five months in solitary confinement in Libyan prisons.
To pass the time, he sang Guns n' Roses songs to himself and tried to name all of the ‘Star Trek’ characters.
He said he suffered from the psychological effects of solitary confinement.
In a bid to free her son, Sharon VanDyke travelled to Turkey with his photos to speak to Libyan diplomats.
Along with her son’s girlfriend Lauren Fischer, she enlisted the help of C. A Dutch Ruppersberger, a Maryland Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, who held a news conference in May to call attention to the situation.
Libyan officials denied Mr VanDyke was being held until July.
Family: Sharon VanDyke (pictured) waits for her son to arrive on a flight at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. She had previously travelled to Turkey to speak with diplomats over his release
When the Abu Salim prison in Tripoli was bombed in August, fellow prisoners opened Mr VanDyke's cell and he escaped.
He made his way to a compound, where he borrowed a phone to call home.
Family members and the State Department urged him to return, but he said he wanted to finish what he went there to do.
He said: 'I felt appreciative that they spent time and resources to try to help me and by keeping my story alive they did prevent the regime from executing me and I'm very grateful for that.
'If they had actually gotten me released then, yes, I probably would have come home. I broke out and I ran for my life with other prisoners. I freed myself and I come home when I wanted.'
His girlfriend Lauren Fischer told Associated Press it was tough to learn he had always planned to fight in the revolution.
Determined: VanDyke pictured on the front line in Sirte, Libya after fleeing the prison
Violence: VanDyke joined rebels to end the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, who had been in power for 42 years. Fighting began in February and persisted for eight months
She said: 'I knew that he went there to help his friends, not to fight, but to help his friends.
'It was not what I thought, but especially after five and a half months of not even knowing for sure where he was, I thought that was what was really more important to me was knowing that he was safe and OK.'
'Victory': Muammar Gaddafi was captured and shot in his home town of Sirte on October 20
Deciding he would stay until Gaddafi fell, Mr VanDyke joined the Ali Hassan al-Jaber Brigade of the National Liberation Army of Libya.
After Gaddafi was captured and killed last month, Mr VanDyke travelled to Tripoli to celebrate – and finally felt he could return home.
He said: 'It's good to be home. I'm glad to be home. I'm glad that the job was finished. I wasn't going to leave until Gaddafi was out of power. He's gone, so I'm home.'
Sharon VanDyke said: 'A lot of time of his life has been given to another country. I know Libyans appreciate it.
'I'm very proud of that he followed his commitment. I never once tried to make him come home. I told him all along that I would support his decisions.'
Mr VanDyke said he plans to go to church on Sunday morning and spend time with his mother and girlfriend now that he is back.
But he also admitted he wanted to go to other revolutions elsewhere in the Arab world.
'There's a lot more to be done,' he said. 'This is spreading.
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