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http://www.wpmi.com/news/state/story.aspx?content_id=C2287FEA-F980-48F8-800C-A3118BDC3535 Ala. (AP) 7th Calvary, former POW chosen for Decatur's patriotism award Last Update: 7/7/2003 8:51:23 AM DECATUR, Ala. (AP) - Heroes of the Vietnam War and a former soldier held prisoner in Iraq will be honored for patriotism during Decatur's two-day Spirit of America festivities. For the first time, the Audie Murphy Patriotism Award will be shared on the Fourth of July by more than one person. Retired Lt. Gen. Hal Moore, of Auburn, and Sgt. Maj. Basil Plumley will accept the award on behalf of the 1st Battalion of the 7th Cavalry Regiment for its heroism in Vietnam....

<p>The Army will release a report tomorrow on the ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company in Iraq that will show Pfc. Jessica Lynch and another female soldier suffered extensive injuries in a vehicle accident, but not from Iraqi fighters.</p> <p>The deadly March 23 battle in Nasiriyah, in central Iraq, has emerged as perhaps the most famous incident in the war — both for what happened and for what was reported to have happened, but did not.</p>

The U.S. Army acknowledges in its investigation into the ambush of Fort Bliss' 507th Maintenance Company that human error, fatigue and the fast pace of Operation Iraqi Freedom contributed to the death of nine Fort Bliss soldiers, two others and the capture of seven more, a 15-page report obtained by the El Paso Times said. "The element of the 507th Maintenance Company that bravely fought through An Nasiriyah found itself in a desperate situation due to a navigational error caused by the combined effects of the operational pace, acute fatigue, isolation and the harsh environmental conditions," the report stated. "The...

<p>The Army will release a report tomorrow on the ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company in Iraq that will show Pfc. Jessica Lynch and another female soldier suffered extensive injuries in a vehicle accident, but not from Iraqi fighters. The deadly March 23 battle in Nasiriyah, in central Iraq, has emerged as perhaps the most famous incident in the war — both for what happened and for what was reported to have happened, but did not. The Army's 15-page report officially will debunk accounts that Pfc. Lynch emptied two revolvers at her attackers and was shot and stabbed before being taken prisoner of war. In fact, she was riding in a Humvee that was struck by a projectile during a frantic attempt to escape the ambush. She suffered "horrific injuries," said Pentagon sources familiar with the report. Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa, a good friend of Pfc. Lynch's, was driving the Humvee. The strike on the vehicle caused her to lose control. The utility vehicle smashed into a disabled tractor-trailer at more than 45 mph, critically injuring Pfc. Piestewa, the Pentagon sources said. Rumors surfaced that Pfc Piestewa, 23, of Tuba City, Ariz., was killed by Iraqis at the scene. But the Pentagon sources said she died later at a Nasiriyah hospital of injuries suffered in the crash. She was the only military woman to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Pentagon statistics show. Pfc. Lynch also was pulled from the wreckage and taken to the same hospital. "Lynch survived principally because of the medical attention she received from the Iraqis," one source said. A week later, she became one of the war's most recognized faces. A combat camera crew recorded American special-operations forces carrying her broken body on a stretcher from the hospital to a rescue aircraft. The report also will show that the company's senior enlisted soldier, 1st Sgt. Robert Dowdy, worked furiously to reorganize the 507th 13-vehicle convoy so it could make a retreat. Traveling in Pfc. Piestewa's Humvee, Sgt. Dowdy stopped, got out of the vehicle and tried to motivate other soldiers. Two soldiers whose truck was disabled got into the Humvee with Sgt. Dowdy and the two female soldiers. "This was a fight," a Pentagon source said. "They got popped at different locations. There were battles. They were fighting back." The Humvee sped away from the scene and likely was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. Sgt. Dowdy was killed instantly. A Pentagon source said it was not clear whether the two male soldiers in the back seat were killed by enemy fire or the accident. The Army's report, which will be released at the Pentagon, was written by the service's Training and Doctrine Command, and by Army personnel at the Pentagon. It is based largely on an extensive commander's investigation, called a 15-6, which is the Army regulation that authorizes investigations of major incidents. The sources said the 15-6 report itself will not be released. The Army's Criminal Investigative Command also is investigating the incident and its aftermath to see if any Iraqis have committed war crimes. The report being released is restricted to the actions of soldiers in the ambush and does not deal with war-crimes issues or the time six 507th soldiers spent in captivity. After the ambush, the Iraqis showed a videotape of some 507th members with gunshot wounds to the head in apparent execution-style killings. Of some 30 soldiers traveling in the convoy, 11 were killed and six, including Pfc. Lynch, were taken prisoner. U.S. commandos rescued Pfc. Lynch, 19, on April 1 after her captives had fled the hospital. She suffered extensive fractures. After a series of surgeries, she is undergoing rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the District. The nation's fascination with the Palestine, W.Va., resident grew even more intense after The Washington Post reported in a front-page story that she had waged a fierce gunbattle with Iraqi attackers. The Post subsequently retracted that account in an extensive investigative story on the ambush and her hospital stay. After the ambush, a U.S. Central Command spokesman said the company took a wrong turn. Instead of heading north to support a Patriot antimissile battery, the convoy ended up in a section of Nasiriyah teeming with Iraqi paramilitary and soldiers. Pentagon sources said the 15-6 report does not find fault with the actions of any 507th member. Fort Bliss, Texas, where the 507th is based, last week awarded medals for bravery to nine surviving members, including Sgt. Curtis Campbell, who fought off attackers. "Actually, I was just doing my job," Sgt. Campbell told KFOX-TV in El Paso. "And there were so many individuals who collectively did so many great things. Given the situation that we were in, the training that we received helped us all to survive the situation. And because it was an ambush, the only way through an ambush is to go through and fight your way through, and each soldier did exactly what they were trained to do."</p>

Military tells 507th, kin details of ambush Laura Cruz El Paso Times Army officials have begun telling families and members of Fort Bliss' 507th Maintenance Company what the military's investigation has found about the March 23 ambush in Iraq in which nine 507th soldiers were killed, six captured and four wounded. The families Thursday were not discussing what they had been told because the Army asked them not to speak publicly until all families have been given the information. But Janie Kiehl, mother of slain soldier James Kiehl, who hadn't been briefed on the ambush yet, said that when her...

EL PASO, Texas - Several former Army prisoners of war, including a still-recovering Spc. Shoshana Johnson, stood at attention under a blazing sun Wednesday to receive medals for their service in Iraq. Johnson, who was shot in the ankle when the 507th Maintenance Company was ambushed March 23 near Nasiriyah, wavered slightly while balancing on a walking cast. Gen. Larry Ellis, commander of Army Forces Command, steadied her as she received the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the Prisoner of War Medal. She was among 10 soldiers from the 507th, stationed at Fort Bliss, who received medals for their...

Jessica Lynch: Modern myth? by Mona Charen Have you heard of Army Sgt. Casaundra Grant? Probably not, because her story has been largely ignored by the press. She's a 25-year-old single mother who lost both of her legs during the Iraq War when she was accidentally pinned under a tank. Her 2-year-old son "prayed for her legs" the first time he saw her stumps. Sgt. Grant is upbeat and grateful to be alive, reports the San Antonio Express-News, but is this really the way we want to fight our wars, with young mothers coming home in wheelchairs? (By the way,...

<p>The Washington Post has backed off its initial portrayal of U.S. Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch as a young warrior, an account that made her an instant national hero and sparked a brawl between news organizations and Hollywood for her exclusive story — be it myth, or truth.</p>

It became known as the "Wrong Way Convoy," a hapless group of American mechanics, clerks and computer technicians who were waylaid in an unexpected firefight early in the war with Iraq. Eleven soldiers would die while others — including Pfc. Jessica Lynch — would be taken captive. One question persists: who was responsible for the mix up?

WASHINGTON (AP)--An Army maintenance unit that lost eight soldiers and had several taken prisoner in Iraq was sent in the wrong direction by other American soldiers as they sped to catch up to their convoy, a Texas congressman said Friday. The 507th Maintenance Co. was directed to go east at an American checkpoint and had traveled several miles in the outskirts of Nasiriyah when their commander realized they were heading in the wrong direction, said Rep. Silvestre Reyes. Reyes is a Democrat from El Paso, home to Fort Bliss, where the 507th is based. He was briefed Friday by the...

Ex-POW From N.M. Re-Enlists Army Gets Alamogordo Soldier For 2 More Years POSTED: 3:03 p.m. MDT May 30, 2003 UPDATED: 3:41 p.m. MDT May 30, 2003 EL PASO, Texas -- A former prisoner of war in Iraq has re-enlisted. Army Spc. Joseph Hudson of Alamogordo, N.M., is one of six former POWs from the 507th Maintenance Company at Fort Bliss. He was among the POWs freed in mid-April. Hudson will serve two more years. He said he hopes to teach other soldiers how to survive captivity. The 507th was ambushed by Iraqi forces on March 23 near Nasiriyah when...

A comprehensive report on what happened March 23 near the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah -- where nine members of Fort Bliss' 507th Maintenance Company were killed, six taken prisoner and four wounded -- is expected to be ready in the "not too distant future," post commander Maj. Gen. Stanley Green said Wednesday. Green made his comments as he sought to quell reports that more than one inquiry is under way into the March 23 attack. Green said only a standard "15-6" investigation is under way. The term 15-6 investigation comes from the Army regulation regarding the conduct of such inquiries....

Secrets galore Posted: May 20, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 David H. Hackworth Judiciously guarding our military's classified information makes excellent sense. Stamp it "SECRET," the system takes over and lives will be saved. What patriot would quibble with that? But calling stuff "SECRET" to cover up Pentagon screw-ups that cost soldiers' lives or to protect war racketeers' pet scams violates what our country is about. Ditto the Pentagon-employed spinmeisters and the big bucks they waste annually hiding the truth from U.S. citizens unknowingly footing the bill for their deceptions. The Pentagon's annual defense budget is about 500 times...

VALLEY CENTER, Kan. (AP) -- Former prisoner of war Pfc. Patrick Miller got a huge surprise at a parade and rally in his honor Saturday - courtesy of country star Toby Keith. Miller, who enjoyed irritating his Iraqi captors by singing Keith's "Courtesy of the Red White & Blue," was reluctantly persuaded to strike up the tune with three school buddies during the homecoming in his childhood hometown. They were cut off by Bobby Massey, pastor of Valley Center Assembly of God, who told them, "I think it would be better if we got someone who knows how to sing...

Discrepancies in reports of POW's capture, rescue raise questions Posted: May 6, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Diana Lynne © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Hollywood writers could not have imagined a more gripping and rousing story as that of the capture of Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch and the dramatic Special Ops rescue caught on videotape and instigated by an Iraqi lawyer who reportedly put his life on the line for hers. But some question whether elements of the saga are more hype than fact, created to spin the POW's experience to serve political purposes. An avalanche of movie and book offers flooded the Lynch...

the saga of Saving Private Lynch. Branded on to our consciousness by media frenzy, the flawless midnight rescue of 19-year-old Private First Class Jessica Lynch hardly bears repeating even a month after the fact. Precision teams of U.S. Army Rangers and Navy Seals, acting on intelligence information and supported by four helicopter gunships, ended Lynch's nine-day Iraqi imprisonment in true Rambo style, raising America's spirits when it needed it most. All Hollywood could ever hope to have in a movie was there in this extraordinary feat of rescue — except, perhaps, the truth. So say three Nasiriya doctors, two nurses,...

LOS FRESNOS, Texas - Army Sgt. Edward John Anguiano, the last U.S. soldier missing in Iraq, was found dead, family members and the Pentagon said Monday. Anguiano, 24, disappeared after his convoy was attacked March 23 near Nasiriyah in southern Iraq. Anguiano's grandfather and an aunt said military officials notified the family late Sunday. "What we heard is that he was ambushed," said Vicente Anguiano Sr., 72. "They found his truck, the one he drove, and it had been stripped — tires and everything. They found a body near the truck." Officials used DNA tests to confirm the remains were...

PALESTINE - As Pfc. Jessica Lynch celebrated her 20th birthday Saturday in Washington D.C., people in her hometown were commemorating the man who helped rescue the former prisoner of war from an Iraqi hospital earlier this month. The Friends of Mohammad, a Malden-based organization, dedicated a friendship garden at the Palestine post office Saturday to honor Lynch and the man whose tips led U.S. forces to the Wirt County High School graduate. Lynch was captured March 23 after her 507th Maintenance Co. convoy was ambushed in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. She was rescued by U.S. commandos April 1...

Family Feels Soldier Was Overshadowed The former prisoners of war have been in the spotlight since their release. So much, that the family of one solider who was killed in action feels little attention was paid to his sacrifice. Thursday, April 24, 2003 -- Ruben Estrella-Soto would've turned 19 years old Tuesday. His family honored his birthday on Wednesday by playing his favorite songs by his grave. Ruben was killed along with eight other soldiers when his maintinence unit was ambushed by Iraquis. Five others were taken prisoner, and have become household names since their return. Edgar Estrella says his...

<p>NASIRIYA, Iraq (CNN) --Doctors and nurses at Nasiriya's main hospital say they defied senior Iraqi military leaders and Baath Party officials to care for a wounded American soldier who was held prisoner there for more than a week.</p> <p>Ahmed Muhsin, a resident doctor at the hospital, said he and other medical workers smuggled food and news of advancing coalition forces to Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who was under constant guard while being treated for two broken legs, a broken arm and a fractured back.</p>