POW images provide 'reality check' for soldiers

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

A week into a new war with Iraq, Hawai'i-based forces — although largely kept at home — have experienced their own highs and lows as the fighting overseas proceeds at an uncertain pace.

Sgt. Ebony Jenkins, 22, of the 58th Military Police Company at Schofield Barracks, said she was shocked when support soldiers were captured in Iraq. The prisoners, she said have to be strong and "keep praying." Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

And the lows: More than 40 coalition casualties so far, and five support soldiers and two helicopter pilots taken prisoner and paraded on TV.

For some Schofield soldiers, seeing fellow Americans at the mercy of Iraqi captors — especially rear-echelon troops — has been jolting in a war some predicted would be a re-run of the coalition forces' quick victory in 1991.

"I'm support, just like them. It could be me out there," said Spc. Ronald Carrion, 22. "It's really hard on family and loved ones back home. It was a reality check."

Carrion, an administrative specialist from New Jersey, said soldiers seeing the American POWs have a mixture of feelings, chief among them anger at their captors.

"Some soldiers don't think we should be there at all," he said. "But we're soldiers, and we do what we're told to do. Personally, I think we should be there to get rid of all the bad people and make sure things are good."

Five members of the 507th Maintenance Company out of Fort Bliss, Texas, were captured after taking a wrong turn near An Nasiriyah and being ambushed. Four others with them are missing and presumed dead.

The captured soldiers, shown Sunday on Al-Jazeera, an Arab satellite TV channel, include a truck driver, a mechanic and a cook. The cook, Spc. Shoshana Johnson, is a woman and a mother of one.

Two crewmen from a downed U.S. Apache helicopter were in Iraqi custody on Monday, and more than 40 British and U.S. coalition troops had been killed as of yesterday.

But the American POWs shown by Iraqis on videotape put a face on a worrisome aspect of war, and raised questions here about the level of prisoner-of-war training received by front-line and rear-echelon military personnel.

One Hawai'i Air National Guard member in a support role said the last time she received POW training was six to seven years ago.

"I think we should be more aware of it," she said, "especially because it was unexpected that they would get captured. What would we do?

"I do have a daughter," said the Guard member, who did not want to give her name. "It does make me think whether I want to stay in the military because of being afraid."

"I'm support, just like them," Spc. Ronald Carrion said of the POWs. "It could be me out there." Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

The division's 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry fought Iraqi ground forces yesterday about 95 miles south of Baghdad, according to reports.

Sgt. Ebony Jenkins, 22, who's with the 58th Military Police Company at Schofield, said she has no opinion on the war.

"I really don't question anything the president does. We have to defend this country," she said. But she said she too was shocked when the support soldiers from the 507th Maintenance Company were captured.

"It could be me. It could be anybody. It could be my sister over in Afghanistan right now," Jenkins said. The fact one of those taken prisoner was a woman made little difference, she said.

"You never know what they could do to her because she is a woman," Pfc. Jaquetta Jackson said of the female POW in Iraq. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

But Pfc. Jaquetta Jackson, 19, who works at the 58th Military Police Company motor pool, said, "you never know what they could do to her because she is a woman. They could be abusing her."

The prisoner-of-war training that most service members receive during basic combat training includes sitting down with a military lawyer who explains the "Code of Conduct," including a section on a POW's right to only give name, rank and serial number.

"Pretty much, as far as specific POW training, the pilots do receive what we call SERE (Survive, Evade, Resist, Escape) training," an Army official at the Pentagon said. "For the common Joe, pretty much the Code of Conduct is it."

Harvey Perritt, spokesman for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe, Va., said the Code of Conduct is reinforced as service members make higher rank.

The training is the same for men and women, he said.

The code traces its roots to the Korean War, when rear-echelon personnel were taken prisoner, but had few guidelines for how they should act, officials said.

Perritt said the Code of Conduct sets a "fairly high standard right now."

"We're always reviewing it, but I don't know if there's any consideration being given to adjusting it at this time," he said.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.