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.
I don't think so. Explosions heard at Al rashid hotel, Fox News.
How many do you think know what you're talking about? Not many, I expect.
Two stranded U.S. soldiers rescued in Iraqi desert
Judith Miller, New York Times Published March 31, 2003 RESC31
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
Showed the value of a life and dry socks.
I agree. Creative reporting?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.