Re: Keeping the Faith

Date: March 29, 2004

"Ex-prisoner of war in Iraq downplays racial issues

By Courtenay Edelhart
courtenay.edelhart@indystar.com

Shoshana Johnson, the first black female prisoner of war in U. S. history, is a reluctant hero and symbol of racial pride.

Before a packed audience at Butler University's Clowes Hall on Tuesday, Johnson said race didn't matter much in wartime.

Gratefully acknowledging the risk that U.S. Marines took to rescue her and five others in her Army convoy -- ambushed on March 23, 2003, in Iraq -- Johnson recalled it was a rainbow of black, white and Hispanic fighters who saved her.

"Those Marines didn't care what color we were. We were U.S. soldiers, and they were going to rescue us," she said. "And we didn't care what color they were."

Race became a point of debate nationwide when Johnson fought for and ultimately received an increase in disability pay after her stint in captivity.

Some argued that another high-profile prisoner, Jessica Lynch, received more than Johnson because Lynch is white.

Johnson insisted she never thought she deserved more than Lynch, who suffered graver injuries, but said all prisoners of war should receive more than they do.

"It's very common for veterans to have to fight for their disability," she said. "I'm not bitter. I'm not upset. I'm just happy to be alive."

Johnson, 31, gained fame when grainy videotape of her frightened face was broadcast across the world shortly after her capture during the invasion of Iraq.

She was freed after 22 days of captivity, during which she underwent surgery for bullet wounds to both ankles.

Johnson left the Army in December and has been honored with a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and the POW Medal.

She rejects the title of hero, however. The nine members of her convoy killed in the ambush, and the Marines who rescued her, are the heroes, Johnson insisted.

So are police and firefighters, she added, who risk their lives daily to protect the public.

Johnson credited her faith in God with giving her hope in the darkest moments when she was sure she would be killed, as well as the support of the other American prisoners.

"I don't know what I would have done if I'd had to go through that alone," she said.

The prisoners were held in separate cells but whispered words of encouragement to one another when they could.

Johnson recalled the first time the prisoners were allowed to assemble after their capture.

Her fellow soldiers asked whether she'd been raped. When she said she hadn't, they shed tears of relief.

Johnson was touched. Here they were, in great danger themselves, and her welfare remained among their chief concerns.

Johnson is still recuperating from her injuries and suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome, which is why she decided to cut short her military career.

She'd enrolled in 1998 to earn money for culinary school and had been a food service specialist with the 507th Maintenance Company when she was captured.

Asked at a news conference before her address whether she had plans for the future, Johnson said she has no idea what she will do next.

"I'd just appreciate the little things more -- spending time with my daughter," said Johnson, the single mother of a 3-year-old girl.

"I just want to watch her grow up. Watch PBS with her. Before I'd watch a few episodes with her and say, 'OK, I have to go do housework.'

"Now I don't take anything for granted. I could watch Saturday morning cartoons with her for hours."

Call Star reporter Courtenay Edelhart at (317) 444-6481

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