Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 12, 1991 TAG: 9103120381
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Brig. Gen. Robert Poel told a news conference that initial examinations of the airmen at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington showed that some had lost as much as 30 pounds during their confinement, and several had contracted intestinal parasites.
Separately, a senior Army physician said examinations of five Army personnel who had been prisoners of war showed they had not been physically injured, and had been given "acceptable" medical treatment by their captors.
But the Iraqis treated the Air Force pilots "in a very severe fashion," said Poel, who is commander of the Malcolm Grow Medical Center at the base. "They parachuted into a very hostile environment."
Poel said the airmen, who arrived at the base Sunday, suffered from malnutrition and many from fatigue. Some had spent as much as 40 days in captivity.
He would not discuss which pilots had been injured by the Iraqis, or detail the nature of their injuries. Pentagon officials have repeatedly refused to describe the extent of POW mistreatment.
Iraqi film of captured U.S. pilots suggested that some were coerced to make public statements criticizing the war.
Poel said the statements "indeed were given under duress, of a variety of sorts." He would not elaborate.
Poel said injuries to the fliers included broken bones, hearing problems and scrapes and bruises. Some of the injuries were inflicted when the fighter pilots ejected from their aircraft, he said.
Poel said none of the airmen had been shot once they reached the ground and also said he expected that the psychological injuries would not be permanent.
by CNB