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Marine helicopters rescue 2 U.S. soldiers lost in the desert for 7 days
Knight Ridder Newspapers | April 7, 2003 | Sara Olkon

Posted on 04/07/2003 8:34:31 PM PDT by HAL9000

AN AIRBASE IN IRAQ - The two soldiers from the Army's 3rd Infantry Division were lost and alone in the Iraqi desert.

Seven days had gone by when a pair of Marine helicopters, three miles off course, flew overhead and spotted the two waving their arms wildly. Beside them were the letters "SOS" carved in the sand.

"I see them and think, `We gotta help these guys,'" said Marine Capt. Christian "Mac" Ward, a pilot with Marine Aircraft Group 29, which is based at New River Marine Corps Air Station, N.C., and now flies out of a captured Iraqi airbase that can't be named under agreement with the military. "But we knew they could be Iraqis, posing as Americans."

Ward was flying a CH-53 heavy lift helicopter and was heading to a refueling station when he spotted the two last week in an area scattered with Bedouin camps.

Ward tried to radio the base, but he couldn't get through. The helicopters circled overhead. Suddenly, the pilots spotted a white pickup truck speeding toward the two men below.

The men on the ground wrote another message in the sand: "7 days, no comm."

"I'm thinking, `Definitely they are American,'" Ward said.

One of the helicopters landed to retrieve the two men, as the other circled overhead and kept aim on the speeding vehicle. The truck turned around.

The two soldiers had just eaten the last of their rations and were out of water. The pair said they'd been trying to pull a Humvee out of the sand when they lost contact with their unit. It was unclear how they got left behind.

The men, identified by the Marines as a Sgt. Johnson and a Sgt. Jones of the 3rd Infantry Division, could not be reached for comment. There was no confirmation of the incident from the Army.

Ward said the two men had no idea their unit was long gone, and at first had insisted on remaining in the desert after getting fresh food and water.

(c) 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.



TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; US: North Carolina
KEYWORDS: 3rdid; answeredprayer; goodnews; iraq; rescue; searchandrescue; usmc; warlist
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To: HAL9000
Were these guys part of the unit where the commander recently got fired?
21 posted on 04/07/2003 9:02:58 PM PDT by Canticle_of_Deborah
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To: HAL9000
This desert is secure, Sir!
22 posted on 04/07/2003 9:04:36 PM PDT by DannyTN (Note left on my door by a pack of neighborhood dogs.)
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To: Canticle_of_Deborah
I was wondering if these two were on a MIA list.
23 posted on 04/07/2003 9:04:46 PM PDT by txzman (Jer 23:29)
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To: HAL9000
Hey guys, you almost missed the War!
Good timing, heli boys.
24 posted on 04/07/2003 9:06:38 PM PDT by unspun (One Way.)
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To: pbear8
One of them has a pregnant wife, who is also in the military, but wasn't sent to the Gulf, because she is expecting a child.

Somebody on FoxNews interviewed her and also the parents of her husband, one of the two soldiers in this incident.

They also said, that even with his limited rations, he shared food and water with some hungry Iraqi civilians, who happened by.

Thank God they both got rescued.
25 posted on 04/07/2003 9:06:45 PM PDT by FairOpinion
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To: rageaholic
"I'm just really looking forward to Al-Hassan's media spin tomorrow."

I don't think so. Explosions heard at Al rashid hotel, Fox News.

26 posted on 04/07/2003 9:07:32 PM PDT by blam
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To: HAL9000
This is no a repost but it is a retread story. This one has interviews with the Helo crews that found them but the original just listed the particulars.
27 posted on 04/07/2003 9:07:59 PM PDT by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig (.45 .46, whatever it takes)
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To: HAL9000
Fantastic news !
28 posted on 04/07/2003 9:08:04 PM PDT by ChadGore (288,007,154 Americans did not protest the war today)
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To: HAL9000
Fantastic news !
29 posted on 04/07/2003 9:08:09 PM PDT by ChadGore (288,007,154 Americans did not protest the war today)
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To: jwalsh07
"Reminds me of Joe and Willy from days gone by."

How many do you think know what you're talking about? Not many, I expect.

30 posted on 04/07/2003 9:09:07 PM PDT by blam
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To: HAL9000
This was first reported here last week, IIRC their Sgt."forgot" them.
31 posted on 04/07/2003 9:11:20 PM PDT by thepitts
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To: blam
Not too many! :-) But you're one of em. LOL
32 posted on 04/07/2003 9:13:16 PM PDT by jwalsh07
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To: HAL9000
Very strange story... here's another one from Mar. 30 which has a lot of the same elements but different names.... something sounds very fishy.....


Two stranded U.S. soldiers rescued in Iraqi desert
Judith Miller, New York Times
 
Published March 31, 2003
 
 

WITH THE 75TH EXPLOITATION TASK FORCE, NORTHERN KUWAIT -- Two U.S. soldiers have been rescued by Marines after being stranded in the southern Iraqi desert for seven days.

Specialist Jeffrey Klein, 20, and Sgt. Matthew Koppi, 22, both mechanics with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, were in good spirits, if thirsty, hungry and tired, after their rescue Friday. Marines in Chinook helicopters spotted them dug into trenches in the sand.

No one was quite sure on Sunday whether or why their unit had failed to notice their absence or that of an officer's Humvee. Officers at the headquarters of the coalition's land forces said they were trying to find out what had happened.

The soldiers said they were stranded after being sent out to tow an officer's Humvee that had broken down as the division was traveling north toward Baghdad. When their own truck's clutch failed, one of their unit's staff sergeants ordered them to stay put, saying he would send for them as the convoy moved on.

As days passed, the soldiers dug trenches to defend their position, alternated night watch, and drew "SOS" in the sand. They said they gave much of their food to hungry Iraqi civilians who approached their truck.

Klein, of Independence, Ky., said suspicious white vehicles with passengers in Arab dress slowed down to get a better look but did not stop.

Fedayeen Saddam "death squads" have been cruising the roads of southern Iraq in such vehicles looking for vulnerable Americans and trying to ensure loyalty to the Baghdad government.

"Some of those rogue guys may have passed us," Klein said. "But when they saw that we were armed and really dug in, they may have been discouraged."

During the day, Koppi, of Asheville, N.C., wrote poems to his wife, who had their first child 10 days before his deployment.

After a medical checkup, the soldiers were given new uniforms, a hot meal and a full night of sleep. Meanwhile, officers sent word to their unit about their rescue and sought information about why they had been stranded.

Col. Richard McPhee, who commands the 75th Exploitation Task Force, said he was impressed with the resourcefulness and dedication of the two. "When we found them," he said, "they just kept saying that they wanted to return to their unit as soon as possible to be part of the battle."

Offering his highest accolade, he said, "Those guys are warriors."

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/3792730.html


33 posted on 04/07/2003 9:16:22 PM PDT by deport
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To: jwalsh07
One of my favorites shows Joe and Willie in a muddy fox hole, Willie says to Joe, you saved my life today...here, have my last pair of dry socks.

Showed the value of a life and dry socks.

34 posted on 04/07/2003 9:17:07 PM PDT by blam
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To: jwalsh07
joe, remind me more of stan and ollie.......lol just kidding
35 posted on 04/07/2003 9:19:22 PM PDT by staninplacitas
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To: deport
"Very strange story... here's another one from Mar. 30 which has a lot of the same elements but different names.... something sounds very fishy....."

I agree. Creative reporting?

36 posted on 04/07/2003 9:19:29 PM PDT by blam
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To: HAL9000
Thems a coupla doggies that ain't gonna tell no more jarhead jokes, ah reckon.
37 posted on 04/07/2003 9:29:07 PM PDT by Ronin
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To: blam

38 posted on 04/07/2003 9:32:29 PM PDT by jwalsh07
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To: HAL9000
Are these the same two guys who had the clutch problem that were also trapped in the desert for 7 or 8 days?
39 posted on 04/07/2003 9:35:37 PM PDT by Husker24
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To: HAL9000
BTTT
40 posted on 04/07/2003 9:48:48 PM PDT by TeleStraightShooter
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