JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Washington: The last two Americans being held captive by North Korea have returned home.

Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller landed Saturday night at a Washington state military base after their departure from the reclusive Communist country was secured through a secret mission by the top US intelligence official.

Bae, surrounded by family members, spoke briefly to the media after the plane carrying him and Miller landed.

“I just want to say thank you all for supporting me and standing by me,” he said.

He thanked President Barack Obama and the many people who supported him and his family. He also thanked the North Korean government for releasing him.

“It’s been an amazing two years. I learned a lot, I grew a lot, I lost a lot of weight,” said Bae, a Korean-American missionary with health problems. Asked how he was feeling, he said: “I’m recovering at this time.” His family has said he suffers from diabetes, an enlarged heart, liver problems and back pain.

US officials said Miller of Bakersfield, California, and Bae of Lynnwood, Washington, flew back with James Clapper, the director of national intelligence. Clapper was the highest-ranking American to visit Pyongyang in more than a decade.

Members of Bae’s family, who live near the sprawling military base south of Seattle, met him when he landed. His mother hugged him after he got off the plane. Miller stepped off the US government aircraft a short time later and was also greeted with hugs Their release was the latest twist in the fitful relationship between the Obama administration and the young North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, whose approach to the US has shifted back and forth from defiance to occasional conciliation.

“It’s a wonderful day for them and their families,” President Barack Obama said at the White House following his announcement of his pick for attorney general.