March 25, 2003



I want him home safely, says wife of defiant PoW

From James Doran at Fort Bliss, Texas



ANECITA HUDSON was pouring herself a cup of coffee at 10.30am on Sunday with her favourite television news channel murmuring in the background. At that moment an image that she had prayed she would never see appeared on the screen.



Her son Joseph, a specialist in the 507th Maintenance Company, stared defiantly into the camera, telling her and millions of others that he was a prisoner of war in Iraq. The coffee cup overflowed and Anecita screamed.



"I thought I was just dreaming," said Anecita, 50, surrounded by friends and family at her home in Alamogordo, New Mexico, while she undergoes dialysis treatment. "I saw my Joseph on television. They tried to ask him questions and he said he was just doing his job." She broke down in tears.



Joseph Hudson, 23, is one of five soldiers from Fort Bliss who were identified as prisoners of war after they were filmed by official Iraqi television on Sunday.



It is not known whether the five are still alive, while the fate of as many as seven others who disappeared with them, also believed to be from the 507th, is unclear. The video also showed the bodies of several unidentified US soldiers.



According to sources close to Fort Bliss, the other prisoners shown on the video were James Riley, 31, from New Jersey, Shoshana Johnson, 30, from Texas, Patrick Miller, 23, from Wichita, Kansas, and Edgar Hernandez, 20, of Mission, Texas. His mother, Maria Delaluz Hernandez Hernandez, who speaks only Spanish, was distraught at the news of her son's capture.



Shoshana Johnson's family are fearful that her captors might abuse her sexually. "I can't imagine what Shoshana is going through. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers are there. You never think one of your family would be captured," Tracey Thorn, her cousin, said.



The family of Patrick Miller said they were glad that he was alive. His half-brother, Thomas Hershberger, 27, said:



"The more of an asset he is, the less likely he is to be hurt."



Natalie Hudson, 23, Joseph's wife, was cradling their five-year-old daughter, Cameron, last night while she waited for news of her husband. She said: "You know me and my Mum always said we are against this war, but we have to support our soldiers. I just want to get him home safe."



Cameron does not understand what has happened to her Dad, but she knows that something is wrong. Anthony Hudson, 18, Joseph's brother, comforted his mother. Joseph's father, David, is dead. "I feel like loading up my shotgun and going overseas," Anthony said. But then his anger faded and he wept.



Natalie has not seen the Iraqi video but she was comforted to hear that her husband looked strong, well and in control.



She and Joseph were high school sweethearts and have been together for seven years. "This is very hard," she said. "I have not slept much. I keep crying and every time I try to get some sleep I think there might be some news. But we have heard nothing."



Joseph was going to leave the US Army in September. He planned to join the US Border Patrol, which is recruiting as part of the anti-terrorism campaign of the Department of Homeland Security.



Before he came to Fort Bliss and was sent to Iraq, he worked at a drive-in burger restaurant in Alamogordo.



Patrick Miller was a welder before he joined the Army. He signed up to earn better wages so that he could pay off his student loans. Now his wife, four-year-old son and four-month-old daughter are waiting for news at his parents' house in Kansas.



On the video Patrick appeared shaken. When his captors asked what he was doing in Iraq he replied: "I come here to fix broke stuff." When they insisted that he had come here to shoot Iraqis, he replied: "No, I come to shoot only if I am shot at."



The men and women of Fort Bliss are renowned as among the hardiest in the US Army. The base lies close to the New Mexico border and is surrounded by desert and mountains. The 507th trained for months in these conditions, where temperatures soar in late June and July. "This is a good place to acclimatise for Iraq," a spokesman said.



The five soldiers on the Iraqi video are typical of the young recruits at Fort Bliss. The 507th comprises a diverse mix of ethnicities and backgrounds, and is representative in Joseph Hudson being Filipino-American, Shoshana Johnson being African-American and Patrick Miller having the crop-headed look of a farmboy from the West. "We are from every background and walk of life," Private Holland, who refused to give his first name, said at the base yesterday. "But one thing we all are is green. We are all army and that is all that matters."



Nobody here imagined that the 507th would become prisoners of war. "They are mechanics, man. They are not supposed to be out front," a private first class who would not give his name said.



The base is also home to the units that are in charge of America's battery of Patriot missiles. "The 11th Brigade or the 31st or the 108th maybe, but the 507, that was a real shock," the private added.



The families, and the base, could only wait for news. "As soon as we hear from Iraq we will let them know," a Fort Bliss spokesman said. "The chaplains are standing by."



Franks hints at rescue



ELITE squads could be used to snatch troops taken hostage by Iraqi forces, General Tommy Franks, the commander of the coalition forces, signalled yesterday. The general said that the history of warfare showed that great armies always sought to recover their lost troops.



"I will say I have seen speculation in a number of places that a coalition like this would take action where action is appropriate to secure the release of people who are taken prisoner," he said. "I think you can go back a long, long time in the history of warfare and you will find that to be the case. We will see what the days ahead look like."



General Franks confirmed that the crew of the Apache helicopter that came down near Karbala were missing.



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