Families of Other POWs Hope for More Good News

EL PASO, Texas – As family and friends of Pfc. Jessica Lynch celebrated the news of her rescue, relatives of the soldiers who disappeared with her hadn't given up hope about the fate of their own loved ones.

Eleven bodies -- at least some of them believed to be Americans -- were found with Lynch when she was rescued Tuesday in Iraq, a military spokesman said Wednesday. The bodies have not yet been identified.

Janie Kiehl of Comfort on Tuesday prayed that news of Lynch's rescue would be accompanied by word that her 22-year-old son, James Kiehl, had been found, too.

That didn't happen, but Kiehl rejoiced over another family's happiness and expressed hope that more good news is to come.

"I'm glad they rescued her. She's only 19. That poor baby ...," she said late Tuesday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Lynch, of Palestine, W.Va., Kiehl and six other soldiers from the 507th Maintenance Company had been missing since they made a wrong turn and were ambushed in Nasiriyah, Iraq, during early fighting in the invasion of Iraq. The company is based at Fort Bliss in El Paso.

Five others -- including Spc. Shoshana Johnson, 30, of El Paso -- were listed as prisoners of war after they were shown on Iraqi television, and the Defense Department said two were dead.

Fort Bliss spokeswoman Jean Offutt did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday. U.S. special operations forces rescued Lynch from an Iraqi hospital; there were no coalition casualties, said Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, a U.S. Central Command spokesman.

"I am very happy that there is closure for (Lynch's) family and that she is on her way home," Johnson's father, Claude, said Tuesday night in a statement. "That's all I ask for all the POWs and MIAs."

Families hope the discovery of Lynch can lead to more information about her comrades.

"I'm hoping they found some other news too, and that maybe she knows something," Janie Kiehl said, hoping Lynch could say the others were alive when she last saw them.

Relatives of Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto, 18, who is also listed as missing, were also pleased to learn Lynch had been found.

"I know they are looking for him," Amalia Estrella-Soto said of her son. "I know they will bring him back to us."

At a Veterans of Foreign Wars post near the fort, people were watching the news Tuesday night.

"That they rescued one person like that. ... It's miraculous," said Jeff Jeffries, who served as an Army medic in Korea. "That's great."

Mario Barcena, an Air Force veteran, said he thought the rescue was "fantastic."

"I wish they would find the rest of them," he said. Referring to Shoshana Johnson, he added: "I wish they would find the little girl who was a cook."