Kaye Young, left, kisses Jennifer Skiver, the wife of another helicopter pilot, after a news conference at the Young home in Lithia Springs, Ga.
Posted on 04/14/2003 4:42:39 PM PDT by ChemistCat
Kaye Young, left, kisses Jennifer Skiver, the wife of another helicopter pilot, after a news conference at the Young home in Lithia Springs, Ga.
To the family of former prisoner of war Ronald D. Young Jr., his rescue Sunday was an answer to prayer and fasting, and not just by their LDS ward members.
"There were so many people praying for him, I don't see how it could possibly go any other way," said Ronald D. Young Sr., his dad, interviewed by telephone at their home in Lithia Springs, Ga.
"Today was the best day of my life."
For most of the time of his captivity, Ronald's mother, Kaye, felt he would be all right. "The third day after this happened (his capture), I woke up and I had a feeling of peace, total peace, and I have been like that the whole time."
She knows that people around the world have been praying.
"I found out on Wednesday night that they had his name on the prayer list in the (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) temple in Atlanta, in every session that night," she said.
She told her husband, "Now anybody can say what they want to, but there is power in this church. It just kept me in a peaceful shell that nothing could penetrate. And I was just calm, and I knew it was the Spirit."
Before the family could talk to the Deseret News on Sunday about receiving news of their son's release, they went to a meeting at their Lithia Springs, Ga., ward, where they told about the drama of the past two weeks.
It began on March 23, when Army Chief Warrant Officer Young, 26, and Chief Warrant Officer David S. Williams, 30, of Orlando, Fla., were flying an Apache helicopter and attacking targets during a battle in Iraq. Their chopper was forced down, and they were captured.
Soon after, images of the captured pilots were aired on TVs across the world but then for three weeks, anxious relatives heard nothing about their fate.
On Sunday, as coalition troops moved toward Tikrit, Iraq, they rescued the two pilots plus five other American POWs who had been taken prisoner in a separate incident. Although three of the seven were examined for injuries, they all were in good shape, and were quickly flow to Kuwait City. Young was among those who were not injured.
The Young home was hosting family, friends and reporters on Sunday when the telephone rang. Linda Kelley, a friend from nearby Douglasville, Ga., answered. She said a woman officer was on the line, stating that she was calling form Kuwait.
As the household held its breath, Kaye Young, Ronald's mother, took the phone. She asked if she could talk to Ronald. After a pause, the others in the home could hear Kaye greeting her son.
"There was a cheer that went up as soon as she was able to talk to him," Kelley said.
"It was like we breathed a sigh of relief for the first time in three weeks," said Kaye Young. "We felt like our more fervent prayers had been answered."
The whole country was praying for the prisoners, as were people around the world, she said. "For seven of them to come home — that is unthinkable!" said the elated mom.
When Ronald got on the phone, he could hear the celebration going on back in Georgia. "He said, 'What y'all doin'?' He said, 'It sounds like you're having a party.'
"I said, 'We are, we're having a party for you. Why aren't you here?' " Kaye Young said.
She wanted to know if he was able to feel the prayers that had been offered in his behalf. "He said, 'Mama, I've been doing a lot of praying myself.'
"He said he was treated pretty good the last couple of days by the people that had him, but before that it was pretty rough." He lost 20 pounds in the three weeks.
"That's a lot of weight to lose, as much muscle as he has on him," she said. But she is not begrudging the weight loss. It's much better than what happened to many other service men and women, and so much better than it might have been.
Ronald Young will probably fly to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C., in the next three or four days and the family will be able to visit him there. Officers have advised the family not to press him for details of his ordeal, but to let him tell about it when he feels able.
The rest of the family is relieved too, of course. Ronald is a middle child, among five. "They have been just as worried as we were," Kaye Young said.
Meanwhile, neighbors have been so kind that the family has been inundated with home-cooking. Ward members were to provide dinner on Monday, and a business was planning to treat them to lunch.
Reporters are everywhere, she said. Media trucks have been parked from one end of their street to the other. National TV shows want interviews.
One of the most gratifying calls they received was from Terry Reed Jr., father of one of the Marines who had helped retrieve Ronald. He said he saw his son on TV reports about the rescue, and thereby knew his son was safe too.
"There have been so many blessings coming out of all of this," Kaye Young said. "We are so grateful to Heavenly Father and all the people."
Ronald Sr. confessed there were times he was afraid the drama's end would not be happy.
"Well, sure, in the darkest corner of your mind . . . you do think about things like that," he said.
Most of the time, he was upbeat, believing it would turn out well.
"We had a fast for him at church," he added. That was about two weeks ago.
An anxious moment came at one point after another prisoner of war, Pfc. Jessica Lynch, had been rescued. They were watching TV news and a note moving along the bottom of the screen said the fate of the other POWs was not known, and that with the collapse of the Saddam Hussein regime, there was nobody to negotiate with about the prisoners.
"I thought, man, are they trying to tell us? They're writing them off?" he wondered. "Yeah, it was tough."
Now, Ronald D. Young Sr. said he has one worry:
"I worry that I'll never be able to express the appreciation I have for people all across the country, and outside the country."
RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY BUMP.
Well Illbay, I can tell you this...I live here in Douglas co. My younger brother went to high school with Ronald Young. My fiancee' works with Ronald Young's brother in law. So, I have read every story and watched every news clip there has been regarding Ronald. But I had not noticed the fact that they were mormons untill you brought it up.
In my 90 days of basic at Orlando, we had 3 recruits die. One was struck by lightning, two had heart ailments that the heat and stress brought to bear.
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