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RILEY,
JAMES JOSEPH Name:
James Joseph Riley |
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Other Personnel in Incident: Killed
in action: Missing
in action: Prisoners
of war: Four
more members of the unit were wounded, but managed to hold off or evade
enemy forces until a Marine unit arrived to help evacuate them. Source
Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw data
from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families, published sources, interviews. April 2003. Synopsis:
A group of about 20 members of the 507th was ambushed near An Nasiriyah,
Iraq on the fourth day of battle by civilian-clothed Iraqi forces. The
soldiers were supplying the 3rd Infantry Division in its drive to
Baghdad in central Iraq when they took a wrong turn. Broadcast pictures
showed the convoy with a vehicle that appeared to have its tires shot
out, another was overturned. Six vehicles were destroyed according to
media reports. The
507th, which deployed with the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, is
not considered a combat unit, Defense Department officials said. Made up
mostly of mechanics, the 507th keeps the diesel tanker trucks rolling,
fixes generators and keeps the mechanical parts in good shape. Riley
typically repairs tanks, services the Patriot missile battery and does
welding. Riley
was one of the members of the 507th shown on Iraqi television. The video
clip showed him sitting in a chair with his hands in his lap and
answering questions in a abrupt fashion. Riley's
American grandfather, Joseph Roland, was US consul in Auckland from 1967
to 1972. The family left New Zealand for the United States when Riley
was 10. His parents said he expressed interest in a military career as a
young boy and joined the Army 13 years ago after graduating from
Pennsauken High School. Riley,
is not married and has no children. He taught himself to play the guitar
and is a science fiction buff, making a chain mail shirt for himself.
His family last saw him Riley's family last saw him in July and had a
call in February, before his deployment. Pennsauken
Mayor Bill Orth said he was planning to have city workers put up ribbons
on some of the streets to show the community is solidly behind the
soldier's family and our troops. Pennsauken has a higher-than-average
concentration of veterans. Nearly one in seven residents over the age of
18 has served in the military. Last year, four of the 323 graduates of
Pennsauken High School enlisted in the military according to local
sources. Athol
and Jane Riley also have two daughters, Catherine, 22, and Mary, 29, who
slipped into a coma caused by a rare neurological disorder and yet to
regain consciousness. The family was coping with support of close
friends and neighbors. Catherine, was quoted in media reports as saying
the town was sold out of yellow ribbon. "We just hope and
pray," said Athol Riley.
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 13, 2003 DoD officials identified the seven
American prisoners of war found in northern Iraq
today as five members of the 507th Maintenance Company and two Apache
helicopter pilots.
Two of the seven have suffered gunshot wounds but are in good shape,
said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Officials woke up President Bush with the good news this morning. He
held an impromptu press availability at the
White House. "Today is a great day for the families,
comrades, loved ones of the seven missing in action who are
free," he said.
The five soldiers from the 507th are Sgt. James J. Riley, 31, of
Pennsauken, N.J.; Spc. Shoshana N. Johnson, 30, of
El Paso, Texas; Spc. Edgar A. Hernandez, 21, of Mission, Texas; Spc.
Joseph N. Hudson, 23, of Alamogordo, N.M.; and
Pfc. Patrick W. Miller, 23, of Walter, Kan.
The two Apache pilots, Chief Warrant Officers David S. Williams and
Ronald D. Young, are members of the 1st
Battalion, 227th Aviation at Fort Hood, Texas.
The 507th members had been captured when their convoy took a
wrong turn and was ambushed in Nasiriyah March 23. The
pilots had been captured near Karbala on March 23.
Marines moving up for an attack on Tikrit were tipped off to the
presence of American POWs by Iraqis, said U.S.
Central Commander chief Army Gen. Tommy Franks on CNN's "Late
Edition."
The Marines moved into the area and found the soldiers walking along a
road near Samarra. They flew the former
POWs to an airfield in southern Iraq and transferred them to a C-130
transport plane. They were then moved to Kuwait
for medical treatment and an intelligence debriefing.
Rescued POW Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, now being treated at Walter Reed
Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., is
also a member of the 507th, which is based in Fort Bliss, Texas. Lynch
was rescued from an Iraqi hospital April 2.
The president said the United States will keep looking for American
service members still missing in Iraq. "We pray
that they too will be safe and free one of these days," he said.
But it's just a good way to start off the morning, to
have been notified that seven of our fellow Americans are going to be
home here pretty soon in the arms of their
loved ones."
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