Published January 13, 2015
According to family members, here's a list of members of the 507th Maintenance Company stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, who were missing or captured after Iraqi forces ambushed an Army supply convoy around An Nasiriyah.
CAPTURED
—Supply Specialist Edgar Hernandez, 21, of Mission, Texas — His mother, 53-year-old Maria De La Luz Hernandez, held her son's picture in front of her as she talked to television reporters in Mission. "It is very hard," she said in Spanish. "He is strong, because he has a lot of faith."
—Spc. Joseph Hudson, 23, of Alamogordo, N.M. — Hudson's mother said she prays that fellow soldiers "will get him out of there." Anecita Hudson saw her son interviewed on Iraqi television in a broadcast carried on a Filipino TV station she subscribes to.
—Pfc. Patrick Miller, 23, of Park City, Kan. — Miller graduated from high school in 1998 in Valley Center, Kan., a small town outside Wichita. The father of two children was a welder before joining the military last summer to help pay student loans, said his half brother, Thomas Hershberger. Video footage on Iraqi TV showed Miller answering questions in a shaky voice, his eyes darting between an interviewer and another person who couldn't be seen on camera.
—Spc. Shoshana Johnson, 30, of Fort Bliss — Her father, Claude Johnson, said he learned of his daughter's capture Sunday morning while watching the Spanish-language network Telemundo. "I was searching for cartoons to watch with my grandchild [Shoshana's 2-year-old daughter Janelle]," Claude Johnson, of El Paso, said.
—Sgt. James Riley, 31, from Pennsauken, N.J. — His parents and sister said he is a military lifer who wanted to serve even when he was a young boy growing up in New Zealand. He lived there until the family moved to Pennsauken when he was 10. He retains dual citizenship.
MISSING
—Pvt. Brandon Sloan, 19, of Bedford Heights, Ohio — He left high school last fall to get computer training in the Army, his father said. The Rev. Tandy Sloan described his son as God-fearing and easygoing. "He smiles easily. He's got a pleasant demeanor, and he is very loyal to his friends."
—Pfc. Jessica Lynch, 19, of Palestine, W.Va. — Lynch dreamed of being an elementary teacher some day and saw the military as her way to get an education. "That smile is all you ever see," said Glenda Nelson, a close family friend from Marmet, W. Va. "No matter what, she always had a smile on her face and loved kids to death."
—Pfc. Lori Piestewa, 22, of Tuba City, Ariz — Her older brother, Wayland Piestewa of Tuba City, said his sister, a graduate of Tuba City High School, joined the military about two years ago and was deployed about four weeks ago. She's married and has a 4-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter, he said.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/profiles-missing-or-captured-members-of-the-507th