Operation Just Cause... ...for as long as it takes
by Gerry J. Gilmore
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 7, 1999) - The three U.S. soldiers released from captivity May 2 have confirmed that Serbian military forces ambushed and took them captive March 31 inside Macedonia, not Yugoslavia.
The 1st Infantry Division soldiers also told U.S. officials they had routinely received beatings from their Serb jailers as they were moved several times during their 32-day captivity in Yugoslavia, said Maj. Gen. David L. Grange, the commander of the 1st Infantry Division. Grange called in to the Pentagon from Heidelberg, Germany for a May 7 telephonic press conference with news correspondents.
The former prisoners-of-war, Staff Sgt. Christopher J. Stone, 25; Staff Sgt. Andrew A. Ramirez, 24; and Spec. Steven M. Gonzales, 21; are all members of B Troop, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division, stationed in Scheinfurt, Germany.
Grange said the soldiers were pulling NATO observation duty to detect possible Serb military incursions from Yugoslavia into Macedonia when they were surrounded and captured by 15-20 Serbs in military uniform. The three U.S. soldiers were patrolling between two observation points in their armored High-Mobility, Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, when they came under fire by uniformed Serb forces, possibly special operations, he said.
The American soldiers, said Grange, were operating under accepted U.S. military policy. The soldiers told U.S. officials that the Serbs fired on their vehicle, which was hit "with 40-50 rounds," said Grange. The terrain "was rocky" which "limited vehicle speeds to 12 mph," he said.
Surrounded by superior numbers of the enemy, with no hope for help, Stone said he decided to surrender without returning fire, said Grange. The American soldiers said they were then hooded, tied up, placed on the floor of a Serb truck and driven over the border into Yugoslavia, he said. The soldiers, with Stone in charge, had time to radio for help before being captured, said Grange. All evidence says they were captured inside Macedonia.
"If you recall from the radio transmissions, they gave three [grid] coordinates," said Grange. Those coordinates matched the area of capture according to investigations made before the soldiers' release and information gathered during their debriefing in Germany, he said.
Grange said the U.S. soldiers had also been "knocked down and beaten" during their capture by the Serbs. The soldiers said similar rough treatment - being hit in the face, ribs, legs, and choked with batons -- continued throughout their captivity in Yugoslavia.
Grange said he believed such abuse against the U.S. soldiers "was against the Geneva Convention."
The Rev. Jesse Jackson headed a U.S. religious delegation that had secured the soldiers' release May 2. After traveling overland from Belgrade into Croatia, they flew to Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Stone, Ramirez and Gonzales were then taken to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany for rest and recuperation.
Although the Serbs had repeatedly abused all three American soldiers while held in captivity, the servicemen are now healthy enough to take some leave, said Grange. Grange said he "was very grateful" for Jackson's role in gaining the soldiers' release.
"[Jackson] had told me it was a 'tough sell,' but that he would be successful - and he was," said Grange.
Link to original news item at: ArmyLink News
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