[queenie]

Ex-POW apologizes for 'poor choice of words'
Sunday, October 19, 2003 Posted: 9:50 AM EDT (1350 GMT)



Former prisoners of war, Army Chief Warrent Officers Ron Young, left, and David Williams were filmed during their captivity.

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ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Former prisoner of war Ron Young apologized Saturday for his "poor choice of words" in criticizing in a newspaper interview the mission that ended with his capture in Iraq.

Young did not deny telling the Douglas County Sentinel, "We kind of got sent on a suicide mission, more or less." However, he said the comment was taken out of context and did not convey what he meant to say.

The interview was published in Wednesday's edition of the newspaper.

Young and co-pilot David Williams of Orlando, Florida, were shot down over Iraq in an Apache helicopter on March 23 and held for three weeks before they were released.

Young told the newspaper the Army did not properly use the Apache helicopters on the mission, and the battalion commander should not have been flying at the front of the mission.

In a statement sent to The Associated Press, Young said the story "did not convey the pride I felt serving my country, nor did it convey the respect I have for the Army and for the leadership under which I served."

Added Young: "I regret that some of the opinions I expressed during the interview did not adequately reflect my true feelings, and I apologize for my poor choice of words. I wish to go on the record to affirm that I am proud to have served my Army and my nation."

Young told the paper he and Williams are planning a book about their experience.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/10/19/spr...j.irq.young.ap/

[Matt Wiser]

It'll be interesting what Ron Young and Dave Williams say about their experiences-they were held with the rest of the 507th POWs, and as it turns out, in the same prison where Melissa Coleman, her co-driver, two USMC pilots, one of Rhonda Cornum's crew, and the SAS men from Bravo Two Zero were held-Al Rashid Military Prison. I recall news reports from the final push on Baghdad saying that USMC forces overran the prison and found the uniforms from the seven others, but they had been moved. I do agree with something he did say in that piece-the AF should have gone in and taken out some of the triple-A before the Apaches went in. BTW one of Rhonda Cornum's friends from GW I was in Young and Williams' unit, he was on 60 Minutes describing the mission and aftermath.