Posted on 06/05/2007 4:38:09 AM PDT by leadpenny
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Infanti, a father of six, has been searching for his men--two as young as his own children--since al-Qaida linked insurgents captured them last month in Iraq.
And the 50-year-old Stafford County resident has said the door-to-door search in the violent area south of Baghdad known as the "triangle of death" won't end till the soldiers are found.
Islamic radicals said the missing soldiers are dead, but offered no proof. Three were captured and one was found dead May 23 in the Euphrates River.
Their captors convolutedly said the fact that U.S. forces wouldn't submit to demands to call off the search showed the Americans don't care about the men's fate.
"The Americans sent 4,000 soldiers looking for them," a voice on the video that showed the logo of the media production house of the Islamic State of Iraq. "They were alive and then dead."
It blamed their deaths on "the American army and their leaders, who do not care for the feelings of the soldiers' mothers."
That's just propaganda, Infanti's wife, Roberta, said yesterday.
"They're playing with your mind," she said of the argument that trying to find the soldiers endangers them. "You're damned if you do and damned if you don't."
Lt. Col. Infanti couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.
On Friday, prior to the release of the video, 19-year-old Ben Infanti told The Free Lance-Star just how much his father cares about his men. And he said if he were in that kind of spot, his father would be the one person in the world he'd want searching for him. Two of the three soldiers who were abducted are his age.
"From what I know, with my dad and his soldiers, he might be a real hard-ass sometimes, but he'll get the job done, and he'll stick up for you," said Ben, a 2005 Brooke Point High School graduate.
Ben Infanti is a student at James Madison University. He said that after he came home from college to Stafford last month, he saw a CNN.com podcast of his father being interviewed about the situation.
"I guess the only way to describe [the feeling] is, like, numb to see he's part of what's going on. And extremely proud, because he doesn't give up, ever."
The body found last month in the Euphrates River was identified as Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, Calif. The missing soldiers are Spc. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass., and Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich.
Lt. Col. Infanti is commander of 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division.
Roberta Infanti works as a part-time nurse at Mary Washington Hospital and is a substitute school nurse at Stafford Elementary School.
In addition to Ben, the Infanti children are: Sam, a 17-year-old who graduates from Brooke Point this month, Nathan, a 15-year-old freshman at the high school, Dominic, a 13-year-old middle schooler, Hannah, a 9-year-old third-grader and Jake, a 7-year-old first-grader.
The Associated Press contributed to this story. Michael Zitz: 540/374-5408 Email: mikez@freelancestar.com
10th Mountain ping.
Climb To Glory!
May God damn the Free-Lance Star.
It is bad enough that they publish lists of who has received concealed carry permits in Stafford County...now they have to give the NOVA Jihad where the LTC’s wife works and the fact that they live in Stafford.
Wow....Kinda makes you wonder who’s side the Free-Lance Star is on, huh?
They want us to stop looking. We must be getting close.
Don’t ya think the family gave their permission to the FLS to use everything that’s in the piece?
No more so than the CCW holders gave permission for the FLS to publish their names and the streets they live on.
Thanks for the ping leadpenny. I pray that this Officer and his men find the two still missing, regardless of what their disposition is. And, then I pray that our Lord provides the 31st with the means to obtain retribution from the thugs responsible.
I’ve sent an email to this reporter giving my opinion of writing about the personal information for this man’s family.
I hope the FLS didn’t do anything against the wishes of the family. Please post a response if you get one. There’s a large military community from Fredericksburg north to DC that includes Quantico, Belvoir, etc., plus a large retired military population. If they screwed up, you probably won’t be the only person they’ll hear from. I check their site almost every day, and I’ll look for any other reaction.
Bookmarked.
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