ORLANDO, Fla., March 25 (UPI) -- The father of a helicopter pilot captured in Iraq said Tuesday he was pleased to hear his son was alive and was optimistic the pilot would return home safely.
Chief Warrant Officer David S. Williams was captured when his helicopter was forced down in fighting along the road to Baghdad.
David Williams said at a news conference in Orlando the video on television showing that his son was a prisoner was welcome.
"I was kind of relieved because that was my first knowledge he was still alive. Up to that point he'd been listed as MIA (missing in action)," the elder Williams said.
"Hopefully, the next time we meet, we're celebrating the war's over and my son's home safe," Williams said.
Officials said the younger Williams, 30, has been in the Army for 12 years. He had been based at Fort Hood, Texas, where he lived with his wife and two children -- Madison, 5; and Jason, 2.
His father said the couple met while both were in flight school at Fort Rucker, Ga. He said the pilot's wife, who is also involved in the military, "is doing fine -- considering the situation."
The Orlando man said his son's attitude was good when he was told he was going to war.
"If that's what it called for, he was prepared to do it," the elder Williams said. "Everybody would be nervous. I don't know of anybody in the world who wouldn't be nervous going to war."
Williams and the other pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Ronald Young, 26, of Lithia Springs, Ga., were pictured on Iraqi television Monday with bread and cups of tea in their hands.
Their Apache helicopter was also shown on television after it was downed 60 miles south of Baghdad. A group of Iraqis surrounded the aircraft, celebrating.
The elder Williams said he was hopeful his son would be OK, and was encouraged by the knowledge that all 23 coalition prisoners of war were returned by the Iraqis after the first Gulf War 12 years ago.
"That's very encouraging and that's what I'm hoping is the same here, that all seven -- that at this point I know of -- will return," he said.
The father said he would not alter his normal routine by remaining by the telephone or the television set.
"I'm going to stay in a normal routine. I'll do what I normally do because that's not going to help it," he said. "It's out of my hands. It's in the hands of God and God will make that decision and no one else."
In Lithia, Ga., Young's mother told CNN she knew by intuition when her son was captured.
"I just had a mother's feeling. I just felt like Ron was there with me. I felt like he put his arms around me," said Kaye Young.
She said when it was confirmed by military officials on the telephone that her son was missing in action, "I started screaming, 'I knew it, I knew it, I knew it.'"
Then when her son appeared on television, she watched intently while her husband and one of her daughters turned away.
"He looks good. He looks like he always looks when he's angry," Kaye Young said. "He's a tough soldier and he believes in what he's doing. He wanted to go."
Military officials said they still didn't know how the helicopter was downed.
