WAR

[Theresa]

KUWAIT CITY (April 13) - Unexpectedly released by Iraqi troops, seven U.S. POWs basked in a warm welcome Sunday and were declared in good shape after their 22 days of imprisonment.

The seven were flown to Kuwait within hours after Marines recovered them south of Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. Three were examined for injuries; the other four were assessed and found to have no problems, said Army Lt. Col. Ruth Lee.

The soldiers received applause and hugs by Marines when they arrived at an air base in southern Iraq. From there, the seven were taken by helicopter to a base near Kut and then flown to a military airport south of Kuwait City.

"Today's a great day for the families and comrades and loved ones of the seven ... who are free,'' President Bush said in Washington.

Marine pilots who evacuated the POWs from Iraq said Army Spc. Shoshana Johnson, 30, of Fort Bliss, Texas, had been shot in the ankle, and Spc. Edgar Hernandez, 21, of Mission, Texas, had been shot in the elbow.

Johnson, the only woman among the freed prisoners, had limped in slippers on her way to a transport aircraft after her rescue and wore a bandage on her ankle.

They - along with Sgt. James Riley, 31, Pennsauken, N.J., Army Spc. Joseph Hudson, 23, Alamogordo, N.M., and Army Pfc. Patrick Miller, 23, Park City, Kan. - were all members of the 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company. The five were taken prisoner when Iraqis ambushed their convoy March 23 outside the southern city of Nasiriyah.

The other POWs were Chief Warrant Officer Ronald D. Young Jr., 26, and Chief Warrant Officer David S. Williams, 30, of Orlando, Fla. Their Apache helicopter was forced down in central Iraq, also on March 23.

Shortly after their capture early in the war, the seven had been shown on Iraq's state-run television - giving a human face to the peril confronting American troops.

After their release, Young's father, back in Lithia Springs, Ga., watched shaky video footage of his son on CNN. "It's him, and I'm just so happy that I could kiss the world!'' Ronald Young Sr. said. "It's him! It's definitely him.''

"They look to be in pretty good condition ... all giving the thumbs up,'' said Col. Larry Brown, operations officer for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

When the seven arrived at the military base near Kut, some were wearing blue-and-white striped pajamas, another was in blue shorts. Marines at the base came forward to pat them on the back.

President Bush, who spent the weekend at Camp David, Md., was told Sunday morning of the freed captives.

Capt. David Romley said Marines marching north toward Tikrit were met by Iraqi soldiers north of Samarra who approached the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Company and had the seven Americans with them.

Another spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, Capt. Neil Murphy, said the Iraqi soldiers who had brought the Americans had been abandoned by their officers and "realizing that it was the right thing to do, they brought these guys back.''

"We go to every effort to recover any of the Marines or any of our soldiers taken captive,'' Romley said.

In Washington, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Iraqis told U.S. troops they would find the seven missing soldiers at a location about four or five miles south of Tikrit. "They said, 'You should go get them,' and they did,'' Rumsfeld said.

When Marine combat headquarters got news that the missing had been found, the troops applauded - rare in combat operations, Murphy said.

"You could feel the happiness and excitement in the combat operations center,'' he said.

Pentagon officials are committed to tracking down all soldiers still missing or captured since the spectacular rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch on April 1.

Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of U.S. forces, underscored his commitment to rescuing coalition captives although he said he didn't think that all POWs and MIAs could be recovered.

"I don't think we could predict that at all,'' he told Fox TV. "I think it would be a true blessing if we were able to do that, and I don't think we ... can count on it.

"But I can tell you this: Even though we can't count on it, we can work at them hard. And we have been, and we will,'' Franks added.

Officials had been sounding an upbeat note in recent days, saying more Iraqis were willing to talk and share secrets about potential POW sightings now that Saddam's henchmen are gone.

Lynch, who was rescued April 1 from a hospital in Nasiriyah after an Iraqi civilian tipped soldiers off, became the first POW to return home Saturday.

"This morning our family joins America in rejoicing over the news of the safe return of seven brave heroes to U.S. military custody in Iraq,'' Lynch's family said in a statement Sunday. "This is certainly an answer to our prayers and - we're certain - the prayers of literally millions of other concerned citizens of the world.''

[Theresa]

[Theresa]

LOS FRESNOS, Texas (April 2 - The body of a soldier found the day after a convoy was ambushed in southern Iraq was identified as Army Spc. Edward John Anguiano, the last missing soldier in Iraq, the Pentagon said Monday.

Officials used DNA tests to confirm that the remains were Anguiano, according to the soldier's grandfather, and military officials notified the family late Sunday. The grandfather said he believed Anguiano was killed during the initial attack on March 23, when he disappeared.

``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.''

Anguiano's family members gathered in this south Texas town over the Easter weekend and held out hope he would return soon. The soldier's mother, San Juanita Anguiano, ``is very sad. She was not expecting him to be found dead,'' said the soldier's aunt, Maria Anguiano.

Anguiano, 24, was in the 3rd Infantry Combat Support Battalion out of Fort Stewart, Ga. He was traveling with the 507th Maintenance Company, a unit from Fort Bliss in El Paso, when it was attacked. Nine soldiers were killed and six, all with the 507th, were taken prisoner.

One prisoner, Pfc. Jessica Lynch, was rescued April 1. Five other soldiers were released April 13 and returned to the United States on April 19.

Seven of the dead soldiers found during Lynch's rescue were members of the 507th. An eighth was a soldier from a forward support group of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division.

Anguiano, a 1998 graduate of Hanna High School, enlisted in the Army two years ago. His sister, Jennifer Anguiano, has said her brother was a bit of a loner, but leaving the small town of Los Fresnos brought out the best in him.

Anguiano decided after joining the Army he wanted to live in the Rio Grande Valley and improve his family's lot, Jennifer Anguiano said. Their mother, San Juanita Anguiano, is a single mother and has had a tough time making ends meet.

Anguiano's grandfather said he expected it would take about a week for the body to be returned for funeral services.