American P.O.W.s in 2003 Invasion of Iraq
Encyclopedia
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
which lasted from March 20 – May 1, 2003 resulted in a small number of American and Coalition
Multinational force in Iraq
The Multi-National Force – Iraq was a military command, led by the United States, which was responsible for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Multi-National Force – Iraq replaced the previous force, Combined Joint Task Force 7, on 15 May 2004, and was later itself reorganized into its successor, United...
POWs
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
.
507th's wrong turn
Most of the POWs were captured from the ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company507th Maintenance Company
The 507th Maintenance Company was a unit of the U.S. Army which provided maintenance support to 5th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery , based at Fort Bliss, Texas...
when a convoy of vehicles from the 507th got lost and entered the Iraqi held town of Nasiriyah
Nasiriyah
Nasiriyah is a city in Iraq. It is on the Euphrates about 225 miles southeast of Baghdad, near the ruins of the ancient city of Ur. It is the capital of the province of Dhi Qar...
on March 23, 2003. The 507th was in charge of supporting actual combat troops but were not combat troops themselves and were ill equipped for fighting and quickly surrendered after all their weapons jammed. From their unit nine soldiers in the company were captured in the ambush and following soldiers surrendered to Iraqi forces:
- Spc. Edgar Hernandez, 21, of Mission, TexasMission, TexasMission is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. The population was 77,058 at the 2010 census Mission is part of the McAllen–Edinburg–Mission and Reynosa–McAllen metropolitan areas.-Geography:Mission is located at ....
, was hit in the biceps of his right arm. - Spc. Joseph Hudson, 23, of Alamogordo, New MexicoAlamogordo, New MexicoAlamogordo is the county seat of Otero County and a city in south-central New Mexico, United States. A desert community lying in the Tularosa Basin, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains. It is the nearest city to Holloman Air Force Base. The population was 35,582 as of the 2000...
, was shot three times, twice in the ribs and once in the upper left buttocks. - Spc. Shoshana JohnsonShoshana JohnsonShoshana Nyree Johnson is a Panamanian former United States soldier, and was the first black female prisoner of war in the military history of the United States. Johnson was a Specialist of the U.S. Army 507th Maintenance Company, 5/52 ADA BN, 11th ADA Brigade. During a gun fight that led to her...
, 32, a naturalized American from PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, was shot with a single bullet that sliced through both ankles. She was the first black woman ever taken prisoner in American military history. - Pfc. Patrick Miller, 23, of Wichita, KansasWichita, KansasWichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
- Sgt. James Riley - 31-year-old bachelor from Pennsauken, New JerseyPennsauken Township, New JerseyPennsauken Township is a township in Camden County, New Jersey, USA, and a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2010 census, the township population was 35,885....
. As the senior soldier present it was he who ordered the surrender. - Pfc. Jessica LynchJessica LynchJessica Dawn Lynch is a former Private First Class in the United States Army Quartermaster Corps. Lynch served in Iraq during the 2003 invasion by U.S. and allied forces. On March 23, 2003 she was injured and captured by Iraqi forces but was recovered on April 1 by U.S...
born April 26, 1983 in Palestine, West Virginia suffered a head laceration, an injury to her spine, and fractures to her right arm, both legs, and her right foot and ankle. She was knocked unconscious after her Humvee crashed. In the book I Am A Soldier Too: The Jessica Lynch Story by Rick BraggRick BraggRick Bragg is an American author and journalist known for his non-fiction books, especially those on his family in Alabama...
, the author alleges that Lynch was rapeRapeRape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d anallySodomySodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
during her captivity, based on medical records and her pattern of injuries. She would become a media sensation and her April 1, 2003 rescue one of the main events of the Iraqi invasion.
Capture
When they surrendered they feared the worst. Miller held out little hope for mercy. "I thought they were going to kill me," he said. "That was the first thing I asked when they captured me: 'Areyou going to kill me?' They said no. . . . I still didn't believe them."
Iraqi TV Interview
Soon after their capture Jessica Lynch due to her serious injuries was taken to an Iraqi hospital. The other five POWs did not know about Lynch surviving until after they were released. After their capture the five remaining members of the ambushed 507th would become famous as bloody and beaten they were interviewed by Iraq TV and the footage was shown world wide by Al JazeeraAl Jazeera
Al Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...
. In the interview, Private First Class Patrick Miller was asked why he came to Iraq, his reply was "I come to fix broke stuff." Asked if he came to shoot Iraqis, he answered, "No, I come to shoot only if I am shot at. They don't bother me, I don't bother them."
Two more to make eight
On March 24 they were joined by Chief warrant officers David Williams, 31, and Ronald Young Jr., 26, whose Apache chopper, from the 1-227 Helicopter Attack Battalion, had been shot down in central Iraq that day.Moved from house to house
The prisoners were taken to BaghdadBaghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, where they were isolated in separate cells of a drab prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
with concrete walls and a tin roof. As American troops got closer, the soldiers were shuffled from building to building. The Iraqi captors worked feverishly to stay one step ahead of the advancing units.
Rescue
As it became clear that the war was over for the Iraqis some of their captors approached a Marine unit from the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Delta Co., 3rd Platoon which was a part of Task Force TripoliTask Force Tripoli
Task Force Tripoli was a United States Marine Corps air ground task force formed after the fall of Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. They were commanded by Brigadier General John F. Kelly, then Assistant Division Commander of the 1st Marine Division, and its mission was to continue the...
that had been pushing up toward Tikrit
Tikrit
Tikrit is a town in Iraq, located 140 km northwest of Baghdad on the Tigris river . The town, with an estimated population in 2002 of about 260,000 is the administrative center of the Salah ad Din Governorate.-Ancient times:...
, Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
's hometown. A Marine battalion was sent to check on the intelligence and found the seven POWs with a confused Iraqi guard unit whose officers had fled.
On April 13, 2003, 21 days after the 507th members were captured the Force Recon Marines burst in on the Iraqi guards who gave up without a fight. Ordering everyone on the floor a Marine gave an order to "stand up if you're American!" Given dirty prison clothes and fed little food the prisoners lost a lot of weight and with their garb, and beards they looked like Iraqis. "At first," Spc. Shoshana Johnson
Shoshana Johnson
Shoshana Nyree Johnson is a Panamanian former United States soldier, and was the first black female prisoner of war in the military history of the United States. Johnson was a Specialist of the U.S. Army 507th Maintenance Company, 5/52 ADA BN, 11th ADA Brigade. During a gun fight that led to her...
remembers that, "they didn't realize I was American. They said, 'Get down, get down,' and one of them said, 'No, she's American.' "
Within hours, the seven were on their way to Kuwait International Airport inside a Marine Corps KC-130 transport plane, the first stop before the United States. Amid sobs, cheers and laughter, they told their stories to two reporters accompanying them on the flight. "I broke down. I was like, 'Oh my God, I'm home,'" Johnson said.
War crimes
During the 2003 invasion of Iraq2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
, Iraqi Saddam Fedayeen irregular forces were involved in executing several Coalition prisoners of war.
Sergeant Donald Walters
Donald Walters
Donald Ralph Walters was a United States Army Quartermaster Corps Sergeant, officially listed as killed in action in southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah on March 23, 2003 in the same ambush in which Jessica Lynch was captured...
was initially reported to have been killed in the March 23 ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company
507th Maintenance Company
The 507th Maintenance Company was a unit of the U.S. Army which provided maintenance support to 5th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery , based at Fort Bliss, Texas...
. However, witnesses later reported that they had seen Walters being guarded by several Fedayeen in front of a building. Forensics work later found Walters' blood in front of the building and blood spatter suggesting he died from two gunshot wounds to the back at close range. This led the Army to conclude that Walters had been executed after being captured.
Also on March 23, a British Army engineering unit made a wrong turn near the town of Az Zubayr
Az Zubayr
Az Zubayr is a town in Basra Governorate in Iraq. It has a population of around 90,000.The name is also sometimes written Az Zubair, Zubair, Zoubair, El Zubair, or Zobier.-Early history:...
, which was still held by Iraqi forces. The unit was ambushed and Sapper Luke Allsopp and Staff Sergeant Simon Cullingworth became separated from the rest. Both were captured and executed by Iraqi forces. In 2006, a video of Allsopp lying on the ground surrounded by Iraqi irregular forces was discovered.
Marine Sergeant Fernando Padilla-Ramirez was reported missing from his supply unit after an ambush north of Nasiriyah
Nasiriyah
Nasiriyah is a city in Iraq. It is on the Euphrates about 225 miles southeast of Baghdad, near the ruins of the ancient city of Ur. It is the capital of the province of Dhi Qar...
on March 28. His body was later dragged through the streets of Ash Shatrah and hung in the town square. His body was later taken down and buried by sympathetic locals. His body was discovered by American forces on April 10.
In addition, the showing of captured soldiers on television, as was done with some of the captured soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Company
507th Maintenance Company
The 507th Maintenance Company was a unit of the U.S. Army which provided maintenance support to 5th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery , based at Fort Bliss, Texas...
, was a violation of the Geneva Conventions
Geneva Conventions
The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of the victims of war...
.
Further reading
- Wright, Evan (2004), Generation Kill, Berkley Publishing Group ISBN 0-399-15193-1
- Lowry, Richard S. (2006), Marines in the Garden of Eden, Berkley Publishing Group ISBN 0-425-21529-6