Mother of LDS prisoner of war feels peace, believes he's OK

The mother of an Iraqi-held LDS war prisoner said despite her son's capture Monday, she awoke Wednesday with a peaceful feeling.

Chief Warrant Officer Ronald D. Young Jr., 26, is shown on Al-Jazeera television Monday after he was captured by Iraqi troops.

Associated Press After all, explained Kaye Young of Lithia Spring, Ga., "I've never seen (my son) try anything he couldn't do.

Her son, Chief Warrant Officer Ronald D. Young Jr., 26, was captured Monday when his Apache helicopter went down during a combat mission in Iraq. His fellow crewman, Chief Warrant Officer David S. Williams, 30, of Orlando, Fla., also was captured as a prisoner of war.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Young and Williams were hovering above an Iraqi battlefield attacking targets when their helicopter experienced mechanical problems. They landed the chopper and were later taken prisoner by Iraqi forces.

Their images were soon broadcast on televisions across the globe. Both soldiers, who are based out of Fort Hood, Texas, appeared somber but in good health.

Kaye Young told the Deseret News she and her family have received comfort from members of their LDS congregation and many other friends and neighbors. Women from the Lithia Springs Ward Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have chipped in with meals. "We've been prayed over by every religion," she said.

Georgia's two U.S. senators, Zell Miller and Saxby Chambliss, called to say Washington would do all it could to secure the release of Young and the other POWs in Iraq. Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue called and prayed with the family over the speakerphone, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

An outdoor lover, Young grew up wanting to be a pilot. He once worked as a river guide, helped build a race car in college and spent time in Japan as a foreign exchange student where he discovered an aptitude for foreign languages.

LDS POW Ronald Young, Jr.
Finding Comfort When “Our Worst Fears Are Realized”
by Maurine Proctor

A recently donated red, white and blue wreath sits on the door of a home in Lithia Springs, Georgia and suddenly yellow ribbons are blooming everywhere on mailboxes and trees since Chief Warrant Officer Ronald D. Young, Jr, 26 was captured by the Iraqis Monday morning.

His Apache Longbow helicopter went down in fierce fighting over Karbala 50 miles southwest of Baghdad. Iraqis claim that farmers’ fire shot down the Apache, but the Army believes that the helicopter may have had mechanical difficulties.

Two attempts were made to rescue the pilots, but the fire was so heavy—“like a hornet’s nest” that they were unable to get them. The downed pilots eluded capture for several hours, but were finally caught by jubilant Iraqis.

At home, Kaye Young, Ron’s mother had had a tormented Sunday night, knowing that his regiment had been involved in a thick barrage of anti-aircraft fighting for three hours. A CNN reporter was embedded with the unit and was giving frequent reports.

“I knew Ron was in it,” she said. “Just about every helicopter had taken fire and was hit. When the fighting was over, I had this feeling that something was wrong. I laid in bed and started to pray. About midnight, all of a sudden this feeling came over me, that was so profound, and I felt like Ron was right there with me. He just wrapped himself around me. When he was an infant, he had the sweetest aroma, and mentally, I could smell that.

“The Spirit was so strong and comforting. I felt joy and relief,” said Kaye. “Sometimes you hear about feeling someone’s spirit and they are dead. I wondered, ‘is this coming to me because he’s gone, or does it mean he’s all right?’”

She slept fitfully through the night and awoke at 5:15 to see on the television images of downed helicopter with bat wings on the side. Two helmets lay on the ground and Iraqis were dancing near them. Kaye knew that Ron’s helicopter sported a vampire—a sign that they come out at night, and that the injured Apache had to be one of the six in his unit of the Fourth Brigade, First Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas.

At 7:00, Ron’s father, Ronald Young, Sr. came home from his job on the CSX railway and through the morning a frantic Kaye talked with her two daughters on the phone. Daughter, Kelly Lively, suggested that the comforting feeling from the Spirit may be “preparing you for what might happen.”

The phone call was interrupted with a gasp from Kaye when the military arrived at the door bearing the bad news that Ron was missing in action. “It was the hardest thing in the world,” said Kaye. “I was shaking all over. My whole world fell apart. I just felt like I couldn’t stand it.”

Kelly lives about 45 minutes away, and immediately she got in the car to drive to her parents’ home. “I thought, if the army has shown up, Ron’s gone. I just kept praying and praying, but in my heart I didn’t feel he was dead. He’s out there, and he’ll get away, I thought.”

Members of the Church and other friends had been calling all morning long, and within minutes people started arriving, until nearly 60 people were at the house. “Mom and Dad were given blessings,” said Kelly, “and there was just a calmness that came over everybody.”

It was the beginning of an outpouring of love, support and prayers that has been sustaining. “We feel these prayers,” said Kaye.

People have brought food, flowers and gifts. The Youngs said they wanted a larger American flag to fly in their yard, and within hours the local fire department had not only brought the flag but had erected a 12-foot flag pole. In the wet cement at its base, a family friend wrote, “United We Stand, CWO2 Ron Young, POW 3-24-03.” Another man brought a POW flag.

People have arrived at the Youngs’ home to pray with them. “We’ve prayed with the Catholics, the Church of God, the Baptists,” said Kaye. Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue called to comfort the family, and then called back to ask if he could say a prayer for them, which he did over the speaker phone at the home while the family listened.

T-shirts have been created and donated. Yellow ribbons deck the courthouse. Calls have come from every state and all over the world. Friends have put Ron’s name on the prayer roll of several temples.

On Tuesday alone 188 calls came to the Young home. They represent the news media, friends, churches, even the telephone company saying that a pole had been hit in their area, and they wanted to make sure their telephone didn’t go out.

In the myriad of media interviews that have followed Ron’s capture, the Youngs have reiterated that it is their faith that sustains them. “We are doing well because of all the prayers,” they have said.

Dr. Phil’s television show called and wanted to fly the Youngs to appear to discuss their feelings about people protesting the war. Kaye said, “Protests hurt us because our sons and daughters are already there. The decision to go to war has been made and we need to fall in line and stand behind them.”

Ron Young wanted to be a pilot since he was five years old, a decision from which he never wavered. His grandmother lived near the airport and he loved to watch the planes. A young man with a determined, focused personality, “he is good at everything he sets out to do, “ said his mother. “He is meticulous. I first noticed this when he was a little boy. At Christmas time, he would rebox up his presents, carefully take them upstairs and put them in his closet. He always told us, ‘I don’t like stuff,’ and we joked when we saw pictures of him in Kuwait with 18 guys in a little tent, that now he had to live with a lot of stuff.”

On the unit’s website, the Youngs noticed that Ron had clippers and was cutting everybody’s hair which Kaye enjoyed since she is a hair dresser.

Ron loves sports. He was an Eagle Scout. “He laughs all the time. He hugs everybody. When he puts his arms around you and hugs you, you think he’s going to break you in half,” said Kaye of her 6 foot 4 inch son.

Ron was a graduate of Douglas County High School in Douglasville, Georgia and then studied mechanical engineering at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, Georgia. He joined the army to learn to fly and fulfill his lifelong passion.

Kelly said, “After 9/11, he thought he was going to Afghanistan. I asked him how he felt about that, and he said he was very proud to serve his country.” Afghanistan didn’t happen for Ron, but Iraq did.

This Sunday, March 30, Ron’s Lithia Springs Ward is going to be fasting for him and for all the soldiers in Iraq. Friends from wards in several states are joining, and in a showing of unity, several other churches in the Lithia Springs area are fasting as well. This has been a time of rallying with faith around an LDS boy and his companion David Williams held by Iraq.

“It’s always been my worst case scenario to have someone be a prisoner of war,” said Kaye, “but sometimes we have to face our worst fears. We are not alone in this, and I hope that Ron knows he is not alone. I hope he can feel the Spirit.”

Burlington County Town Bans War Tributes on Public Property (Fieldsboro, NJ-AP,March 28,2003) — Fieldsboro residents can forget about putting yellow ribbons and war memorials on public property.

Yellow ribbons and all other war memorials have been banned from public property here, a decision that has drawn criticism from residents and business owners who want to show their support for American troops fighting in Iraq.

The Fieldsboro Borough Council approved the ban last week, but Mayor Edward "Buddy" Tyler said it does not prohibit residents from placing memorials on their own property. He said that while town officials "certainly recommend" that residents show their support for the troops, there were other concerns that must be recognized.

"Where would you draw a line if you started allowing the use of public property to exhibit whatever cause anyone wanted?" Tyler told The Trentonian of Trenton for Friday's editions. "Suppose someone wants to tie pink ribbons, or black flags, or a Confederate flag or a Nazi flag on public property?"

Diane Johnson, who along with her husband owns a liquor store in this Burlington County town, said she was unaware of the new rule until the township told her to remove the yellow ribbons she placed on a sign that welcomes travelers to the borough.

"I'm shocked and outraged," Johnson said. "They didn't obstruct the sign in any way, and a lot of people with family members in the war came into the store to tell me how seeing the ribbons gave them a lift."

____________________________________________________________ I have prayed and every time I see the reports I feel moved to remember them. There might be four more to add to this list. I hope not.

I tried to find the original pictures that were not availible, they are not on Drudge, WND, Or Newsmax!

W.Va. Soldier Missing in Iraq, Dad Says

By APRIL VITELLO
The Associated Press
Monday, March 24, 2003; 4:23 PM

A West Virginia woman who joined the Army because there were few jobs in her hometown is among a dozen soldiers reported missing after a supply convoy was ambushed in southern Iraq, her father said Monday.

Jessica Lynch, 19, of Palestine, worked as a supply clerk with the Army's 507th Maintenance Co., said her father, Greg Lynch.

"The only thing they can tell us is she's missing," Lynch said.

Lynch said he was notified late Sunday night by an Army official accompanied by the West Virginia State Police.

Some members of the 507th were shown on Iraqi television as prisoners being questioned Sunday, but Jessica Lynch was not one of those pictured.

"We saw it on TV and kind of suspected," Lynch said. "I just want them to bring her back safely - her and all the rest of the kids."

Lorene Cumbridge, a 62-year-old cousin who lives near the Lynches, said Jessica - known to family and friends as Jesse - grew up playing at her home.

"She's just a West Virginia country girl. Warm-hearted. Outgoing," Cumbridge said. "I really thought growing up she would become an elementary school teacher. But for West Virginia children in some of the more rural areas, the military is the one good chance of getting an education and making something of themselves."

Jean Offutt, a spokeswoman for Fort Bliss in Texas, where the 507th Maintenance Co. is base, said 10 or more of the soldiers who went missing Sunday were with the company, which deployed last month with the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade. It is not considered a combat unit, officials said.

Lynch said neighbors and friends had been dropping by and calling since his wife, Deidre, and Jessica's 17-year-old sister, Brandi Renee, first learned the news.

"Everyone has been real supportive," he said.

On Monday, a yellow ribbon was tied to a tree near the family's mailbox and two others were attached to posts on the front porch. Two American flags flew from a second-floor porch.

Palestine, located about 70 miles north of Charleston, is a farming community in sparsely populated Wirt County, which had a 15 percent unemployment rate in January - one of the state's highest.

The lack of opportunity and the military service of her older brother, Gregory Lynch Jr., led Jessica into the Army, her father said. She signed up through the Army's delayed-entry program before graduating from Wirt County High School in Elizabeth.

"The Army offered a good deal," he said.

Gregory Lynch Jr. is stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina and was on his way home, the father said. "They are real close," he said.

Lynch called his daughter a jokester and a magnet for children. He now fears, he said, that she may never get the chance to have any of her own.

"She really loved small kids," he said. "That's what makes it so bad."

Wirt County Principal Ken Heiney said Jessica Lynch was active at the small school of about 325 students, where she played on the basektball and softball teams.

Heiney was meeting with teachers after school Monday to plan a special event for her, including distributing yellow ribbons to students and teachers.

Cumbridge said she would like for the world to know her cousin.

"We have so many Jesses over there right now," she said. "You turn on the TV and it just breaks your heart. There are a lot of families in West Virginia that have a Jesse, too, and they're going to be feeling for the Lynch family."

Iraq claims two US helicopters downed, threatens to parade more POWs>

Tuesday March 25, 03:32 AM

Iraq claims two US helicopters downed, threatens to parade more POWs

HINDIYA, Iraq (AFP) - Iraq claimed it shot down two US Apache helicopters and boasted it could again parade captured and humiliated American troops on state television.

An Iraqi officer speaking to reporters at the crash site said that the two Apaches had been shot down overnight while they were surveying the area around the southern city of Kerbala at low altitute.

Information Minister Mohamed Said Al-Sahhaf said that Iraq might show their crews on television later in a further blow to coalition forces, which launched the invasion to topple President Saddam Hussein on Thursday.

"A small number of peasants shot down two Apaches. We have shown the images of one of them on Iraqi television and we may show images of the pilots of the two aircraft or we may not show them," Sahhaf taunted.

The threat followed Sunday night's broadcast of the bloodied corpses of US soldiers and interviews with five shaken US troops captured in battle, which infuriated Washington and London.

The officer said ruling Baath party militia, members of Saddam's loyal Fedayeen paramilitary and tribal fighters had opened fire on the two helicopters with Kalashnikov assault rifles and anti-aircraft artillery.

Iraqi authorities took reporters to the area near Kerbala, a Shiite Muslim pilgrimage city 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad.

There they saw one black Apache, lying in the field of a small private farm. The helicopter bore signs of shots on its rear rotor but was otherwise intact.

No other aircraft was shown to the reporters or on Iraqi television, but the officer said it was a few kilometers away.

"We raced toward the farm where we saw two American pilots leave the helicopter," he said. "They turned themselves in to our men and we handed them over to the army."

Dozens of Kerbala residents rushed to see the crash site, some of them climbing into the cabin and flashing the "V" for victory.

The chief commander of the US-led campaign in Iraq, General Tommy Franks, admitted an Apache went down during an operation against elite Iraqi Republican Guard units near Baghdad Monday and that its two-man crew was missing.

"The fate of the crew is uncertain right now," Franks said.

But he denied the claim that a helicopter had been brought down by rifle fire from a farmer.

The Apache AH-64 is the US Army's most advanced helicopter and is designed to attack armoured vehicles.

The earlier television pictures from Kerbala showed the aircraft surrounded by Iraqi civilians, dancing and shouting slogans glorifying President Saddam Hussein and brandishing Kalashnikov rifles.

The inscription "United States of America" was clearly visible on the tail of the helicopter and the figures 95135 were inscribed on the rear rotor.

In the early evening, Iraqi television showed debris from another plane the presenter said had been taken down by Iraqi defenses but did not specify what type of aircraft it was or where it had crashed.

Army Spc. Joseph Hudson is shown in an undated family
photo. Hudson's mother, Anecita Hudson, of Alamogordo,
N.M., said Sunday that she saw her son interviewed on
Iraqi television as one of five soldiers taken prisoner.

POW comes from New Mexico, family says
Richard Benke
Associated Press
Published 03/24/2003

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A New Mexico woman said Sunday she saw her son interviewed on Iraqi television as one of the U.S. soldiers taken prisoner, and she begged President Bush: ``Please do something for my son.''

Anecita Hudson of Alamogordo said she saw her 23-year-old son, Army Spc. Joseph Hudson, who was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, interviewed in the Iraqi video, which was carried on a Filipino television station she subscribes to.

``I saw my son and I said, 'Oh, my God.' I looked at him, and he looked so scared. I started crying,'' Mrs. Hudson, who is of Filipino ancestry, said as she clutched a red-beaded rosary at the home of a friend.

Asked what she would tell President Bush if she met him, she said she would say: ``Please do something for my son. I don't want him to get cold, and I don't want him to get hungry. I just want him to come home alive.''

Anthony and Anecita Hudson

Ellis Neel Associated Press Mrs. Hudson said her son identified himself on the video but didn't give any more information. She said he appeared to be uninjured, unlike some of the others in the video.

``It's like a bad dream, seeing your son get captured on TV,'' she said, noting she had no warning and no prior announcement from government officials.

U.S. military officials did not immediately release identities of any of the soldiers, who Iraqi television reported were captured or killed in an ambush near Nasiriyah, a major crossing point over the Euphrates northwest of Basra.

Army Spc. Joseph Hudson

However, Sen. Pete Domenici, R-New Mexico, said Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld had told him to ``assure the family, including Mrs. Hudson, that we are doing everything possible to assure his safety and speedy return. He complimented the young military people, including Joseph, as being well-trained, extremely patriotic and great volunteers.''

Mrs. Hudson said her son's wife, Natalie Hudson, was briefed at Fort Bliss Army base on Sunday and was told not to say anything about her husband's plight. The couple has a 5-year-old daughter.

``I'm just praying that the other people (in the military) will get him out of there,'' she said.

She said she and her son moved to Alamogordo after his father - an Air Force retiree - was killed in a Florida motorcycle accident in 1991. The family had lived in Alamogordo previously when her husband was stationed at Holloman Air Force Base, she said.

A 1998 graduate of Alamogordo High School, Joseph Hudson did weight training at the school and liked fishing, bowling, and card games, his mother said.

``I'm just praying that the other people (in the military) will get him out of there,'' she said.

She said he went into the Army to secure a good future, not to fight. He is a mechanic who specializes in fixing trucks, his mother said.

His brother, Anthony Hudson, 18, said he heard about his brother as he got out of the shower Sunday.

``I'm going out of my mind. I don't care about myself. Send me over there. I'll get him back,'' Anthony Hudson said. ``I promise that.''

Rick Arias, basketball coach and driver education instructor at Alamogordo High, said he remembers Hudson as a ``typical high school kid, a really good kid who took care of business in the classroom, a good student.''

Track coach Joe Bryant said Hudson had a good idea of what he wanted to do while in high school. ``In 30 years I've been involved with a lot of kids,'' he said. ``You really look for the kids that kind of brighten your day, and he's one.''

Two of the other prisoners interviewed said they were with the 507th Maintenance, part of the 111th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, which is stationed at Fort Bliss.

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