Tears and hugs welcome ex-POWs back to Texas

FORT BLISS, Texas -- After weeks of terror held captive in an alien land, seven rescued POWs returned home Saturday to a welcome of joyous tears, hugs from spouses and family and a sea of fluttering American flags.

As their C-17 transport plane taxied along the wind-swept tarmac at Fort Bliss, thousands of well-wishers, tears in their eyes, burst into a raucous cheer.

Army Spc. Joseph Hudson, of Alamogordo, N.M., bounded off the plane, hugged his wife Natalie and scooped up his 5-year-old daughter, Cameron, on the tarmac. The other returning soldiers greeted loved ones as well.

"It was just devastating what we went through and all of a sudden it's like the sun coming up after a stormy night," said Russell Tucker, uncle of one of the POWs, Chief Warrant Officer David Williams.

Two of the former POWs poked their heads through a hatch on top of the plane, holding an American flag and waving to the crowd as the plane taxied along the tarmac.

Spc. Shoshana Johnson, who gripped a flag in each hand and hopped on one leg as she was helped onto a golf cart. She was shot in both ankles during an ambush.

The cart then took a victory lap in front of the overjoyed crowd, which occasionally broke into chants of "USA! USA!" Spc. Joseph Hudson, one of the former POWs, jumped off the cart at one point and said "This is a great country. God bless America!" "They are in great shape and great spirits," said Col. Glenn Mitchell, commander at the medical center.

After a private reception and dinner of submarine sandwiches, cookies and pink lemonade, the five Fort Bliss soldiers were to spend the night at the post to undergo evaluation by doctors from nearby William Beaumont Army Medical Center, Fort Bliss spokeswoman Jean Offutt said.

The two other soldiers, Williams and Chief Warrant Officer Ronald Young Jr., flew off to Fort Hood in central Texas, where they are based. There the two Apache helicopter pilots whose aircraft was forced down in Iraq were greeted by about 1,500 soldiers and family members.

"This almost makes me as nervous as being shot at," Young said as he bent down to speak at the podium. "We really do appreciate the support. I thank God that I was allowed to live my life and share the rest of my life with my family."

On Sunday, President Bush planned to helicopter to Fort Hood for Easter services with soldiers and their families. During the visit he also will meet privately with the two former POWs, White House officials said.

A nine-member team of debriefing specialists and a psychologist accompanied the seven on their trans-Atlantic flight from Germany, which was refueled in flight to avoid requiring an additional stop, U.S. Air Force officials said.

Five of the former POWs are stationed with the U.S. Army's 507th Maintenance Company. The two Apache crewmen are with the First Cavalry Division.

The seven were rescued April 13 after three weeks of captivity when Iraqi captors abandoned their posts ahead of advancing American troops.

The Fort Bliss soldiers were captured and nine comrades were killed in an attack near Nasiriyah on March 23. Another member of the 507th, Pfc. Jessica Lynch, was rescued separately in a daring commando raid April 1 and continues to recuperate in Washington, D.C.

The Fort Bliss soldiers were Hudson, 23, Alamogordo, N.M.; Johnson, 30, El Paso; Spc. Edgar Hernandez, 21, Mission, Texas; Pfc. Patrick Miller, 23, Park City, Kan., and Sgt. James Riley, 31, Pennsauken, N.J.

El Paso was awash in yellow ribbons, but the ribbons at the northeast El Paso home of Johnson's parents were purple, her favorite color.

Neighbor Tina Banston visited briefly because her 6-year-old daughter, Delaney, wanted to give a teddy bear to Johnson's 2-year- old daughter.

"I'm almost in tears because this is so exciting," Banston said. "We've all gone through so much just worrying about her."

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