...for as long as it takes
Name: Andrew A. Ramirez
Branch/Rank: United States Army/Staff Sgt.
Unit: B Troop, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry of the 1st Infantry Division,
stationed in Schweinfurt, Germany
Date of Birth: 1973 24 yrs old
Home City of Record: Los Angeles CA
Date of Loss: 31 March 1999
Country of Loss: Macedonia/Serbia Yugoslavia
Loss Coordinates: last reported on a civilian road in Kumanovo, about 10
miles (16 km) from Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, and less than 3
miles (5 km) from the Kosovo border.
Status: DETAINEE -- changed to POW 04/01/99
Category: Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Humvee/Ground
NOTE: Joined the service in July 1992
Other Personnel in Incident: Staff Sgt. Christopher J. Stone; Spec Steven Gonzales
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. Compiled from news clips; AP, UPI, London Times, New York Post, ABC in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.
SYNOPSIS: Serb TV early today showed pictures of three American soldiers it said its forces captured near the Macedonian border.
The men were identified as Sergeants James Stone and Andrew Ramirez and Specialist Steven Gonzales.
The patrol, a unit from the U.S. Army's 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry
Regiment, was part of a NATO force put in place to secure Macedonia's
border with Kosovo, a province of Serbia, Yugoslavia's dominant
republic.
The vice-president of Yugolslavia, Vuk Draskovic, said: "Nothing wrong
will happen to them. We are respecting the enemy.
We will be sticking to the terms of the Geneva Convention. You can be
sure of that." However, he then warned: "They are going to face Serb
justice."
Pentagon and NATO officials said alliance forces and Macedonian police
mounted an urgent air and ground search for the soldiers, who were last
reported on a civilian road in Kumanovo, about 10 miles (16 km) from
Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, and less than 3 miles (5 km) from the
Kosovo border.
The last words heard from them were "help, help, SOS."
Serbia claims they will hold a military trial for all 3 men.
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