Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 6, 1991 TAG: 9103061178
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA LENGTH: Medium
Earlier in the day, two planes took 294 Iraqi POWs from Saudi Arabia to Baghdad - the first release by the allies of more than 63,000 Iraqi soldiers captured in the Gulf War.
The plane carrying the allied soldiers touched down at a Riyadh air base at about 4:15 p.m. (8:15 a.m. EST), and the former POWs were greeted by officials of their respective governments.
Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of U.S. forces in Operation Desert Storm, was among those welcoming the former captives, whose departure from the Iraqi capital had been delayed a day by bad weather.
The Iraqi government, which freed 10 other allied POWs Monday, said the 35 were the last prisoners of war it held.
The group that arrived in Saudi Arabia today included 15 Americans, nine Britons, nine Saudis, one Kuwaiti and one Italian, officials of the International Committee of the Second American woman released. A4 Red Cross said in Geneva.
The Americans who left Baghdad today were en route to the Navy hospital ship USS Mercy off Bahrain before returning to the United States.
Wynn Mabry, an Air Force doctor, said the allied POWs will spend three or four days aboard the Mercy.
Six Americans, three Britons and an Italian were freed Monday. Doctors who accompanied the Americans to the Mercy said they were in good physical and mental condition and had been treated well.
Twenty-eight Americans and one Saudi remain missing in action and unaccounted for. Maj. Gen. Martin Brandtner, deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in Washington on Tuesday that there was no reason to question Iraq's statement that it held no more allied prisoners.
All across America, towns were preparing to welcome the POWS, as well as about 15,000 soldiers - the first troops to leave the Persian Gulf area. Pentagon sources said the 82nd Airborne Division - among the first units sent to the gulf in August - would be among the first returning, arriving on Thursday.
Among the POWs released were two women soldiers, Army Maj. Rhonda Cornum, 36, of East Aurora, N.Y., freed Tuesday, and Army Spc. Melissa Rathbun-Nealy, 20, of Newaygo, Mich., freed Monday.
Cornum was one of three soldiers reported missing over the weekend while on a search-and-rescue mission in a Chinook helicopter. The others, also freed today, include Army Spc. Troy Dunlap, 20, of Massac, Ill., and Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Stamaris Jr., 31, of Boise, Idaho.
The U.S. command released the names of other Americans freed Tuesday.
The Marines included Lt. Col. Clifford M. Acree, 39, of Seattle; Capt. Michael C. Berryman, 28, of Cleveland, Okla.; Chief Warrant Officer Guy L. Hunter Jr., 46, of Moultrie, Ga.; Capt. Russell A.C. Sanborn, 27, of DeLand, Fla., and Maj. Joseph J. Small III, 39, of Racine, Wis.
The former POWs in the Air Force were Col. David W. Eberly, 43, of Brazil, Ind.; Maj. Jeffrey S. Tice, 35, of Sellersville, Pa.; Capt. William F. Andrews, 32, of Syracuse, N.Y.; Lt. Col. Jeffrey D. Fox, 39, of Fall River, Mass., Capt. Harry M. Roberts, 30, of Savannah, Ga.; Capt. Richard D. Storr, 29, of Spokane, Wash., and 1st Lt. Robert J. Sweet, 24, of Philadelphia.
Besides Rathbun-Nealy, Americans released Monday included Navy pilot Lt. Robert Wetzel, 30, of Virginia Beach, Va., and his bombardier, Lt. Jeffrey N. Zaun, 28, of Cherry Hill, N.J.; Army Spc. David Lockett, 23, of Fort Bliss, Texas; Air Force Maj. Thomas E. Griffith, 34, of Goldsboro, N.C., and Navy Lt. Randolph Slade, 26, of Virginia Beach, Va.
by CNB