Posted on 05/26/2005 4:10:18 PM PDT by saquin
MOSUL, Iraq – They’ve uncovered caches of enemy weapons and flushed out a variety of shady characters since coming to Iraq last fall. But the most astonishing find of the war for several Tacoma-area soldiers turned up this week in a secret room behind a bookshelf in a northeast Mosul basement.
Following a tip from an Iraqi source, Stryker troops rescued two handcuffed and hooded citizens from a squalid concrete-block room.
One of the captives was an Iraqi government official who works closely with American forces. He had been missing 58 days, said officials with the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division from Fort Lewis.
The other was a wealthy merchant whose family was close to paying a $150,000 ransom, officials said.
Their names have not been released for security reasons.
“To see them reunited with their fellow friends and workers is something I will never forget,” said 1st Brigade commander Col. Bob Brown.
It was the biggest hostage recovery in the area since February, when Iraqi soldiers found the brother of Mosul’s mayor in the trunk of a car near Qayyarah.
Sgt. 1st Class Dave Hoogendorn, a platoon sergeant with the Stryker brigade’s 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, knew right away that Monday’s find was a big deal. His soldiers were even given the next morning off from their patrol duties.
But it really hit home when he told his wife about it on the telephone. She usually doesn’t take a deep interest in the details of his combat missions.
“Man, she thought this was the greatest thing since sliced bread,” said Hoogendorn, 35, of Rochester, Thurs-ton County. “When the word ‘rescue’ comes up, that perks up a lot of ears.”
The early-afternoon patrol started ordinarily enough, with 2nd Platoon, Alpha Company working the streets for information. The heat kept most people indoors, but the soldiers started talking with a man who mentioned a friend in the rental property business who had a suspicious tenant, said Lt. Ryan Turner.
Two squads of soldiers rolled to the house and stopped the tenant as he tried to slip away.
“I gave him an ultimatum and said if he doesn’t help us, I was going to take him away, which I really couldn’t do,” said Turner, 24, of Lakewood.
The tenant didn’t call the platoon leader’s bluff. Instead, he disclosed that there were people of interest in the basement, though he denied any involvement.
Sgt. Jared McNulty took his squad downstairs and at first didn’t believe anyone was there. The room was too small, with just enough space for several containers on the floor and a bookshelf against the wall. But when the tenant persisted, the soldiers went back down for a closer look. McNulty said they noticed a fresh coat of paint on the walls and on a panel behind the bookshelf. Like a scene from a “Hardy Boys” book, they pulled back the shelf and started exposing what turned out to be a square opening.
Inside was a roughly 10-by-10-foot room just tall enough to stand in, with four U.S. Army cots and a bag stuffed with black masks, keys, chains, locks and 20 sets of handcuffs. The air was humid, and up to 4 inches of standing water covered the floor.
“The smell was horrible in there; that’s the first thing that hit you,” said McNulty, 23, of Tumwater.
The two cuffed, hooded prisoners were sheepish at first, repeating “Don’t shoot” as they kneeled at the entrance. The sound of footsteps for them had heralded a move to another location, or perhaps an even worse fate.
But their fear quickly turned to joy, and they were taken to get food and water, contact their families and receive medical treatment. They reported being tortured every day, Turner and Hoogendorn said.
The property renter was detained at the house and held with no injuries reported, according to Task Force Freedom, the coalition’s command element in northern Iraq.
One of the captives was the deputy commander of Mosul’s Joint Coordination Center. The agency handles emergency services and security duties such as collecting public tips about insurgent activity.
Hoogendorn had heard about the abduction over the brigade radio net a few months ago, and McNulty had once met the official during a tour of the coordination center. But on Monday neither of them immediately made the connection to the haggard men in the basement room.
“We didn’t know how big it was until we started talking to him and our interpreter started putting it together for us,” Hoogendorn said.
McNulty said the bond between U.S. and Iraqi security forces can only grow stronger now that a key local leader has been returned.
“We’ll never find all the caches or arrest all the anti-Iraqi forces,” he said, “but to find these men and basically bring them back to life, that feels better than just about anything else we could do.”
Sweet!
ping
What a great find. 58 days ,I bet those American soldiers looked very nice. Yahooo !!!
I think what happens to the "tenant" and whoever his "friends" are should make at least as interesting a story.
Yep, I bet when the Iraqis get their hands on the guy's that were holding them it will be their turn for a little torture.
Looks like the Iraqis are becoming more willing to turn in that scum. Must be getting tired of the attacks and kidnappings.
The new Iraqi forces do have more "techniques" at their disposal ;-)
Another example where Iraqis are cooperating with the US military. It sure sounds like common goals to me.
And, yes, I do know that there are far too many terrorists there.
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