WASHINGTON, April 13 (UPI) -- U.S. Central Command Sunday named seven U.S. service personnel who were found alive in Iraq.
"Army Chief Warrant Officers Ronald Young and David Williams, Apache helicopter pilots, and Sgt. James Riley, Spc. Shoshana Johnson, Pfc. Patrick Miller, Spc. Joseph Hudson, and Spc. Edgar Hernandez, from the 507th Maintenance Company, were recovered Sunday afternoon," Centcom said in a statement.
All were previously confirmed POWs.
Members of the First Marine Expeditionary Force returned the seven, who were found near the town of Samar and were flown by helicopter to an airfield near An Numaniyah, south of Baghdad.
They were then to be transferred by a C-130 aircraft to Kuwait City where they were expected to undergo medical treatment.
"It's a good way to start off the morning to have been notifies that seven of our fellow Americans will be back n the arms of our loved ones," President Bush said.
U.S. officials said they were notified of the whereabouts of the seven by Iraqis.
"Iraqis came up to American military and said that there are seven Americans at this location," Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said. "And it was about, oh, six or eight kilometers south of Tikrit, and that you should go get them."
Centcom chief Gen. Tommy Franks echoed those comments.
"What I'm told is that someone came up to our Marines who were moving along the road headed toward Tikrit and said, 'Here shortly you're going to come in contact with a number of Americans, and just so you know, they're there,'" he told Fox News Sunday. "And so, the tip came from an Iraqi. And so I believe our guys picked them up on the road."
Franks said the seven appeared to be in good condition and were up and walking.
CNN reported that five of the seven ran to the plane while the other two limped to the aircraft. It said they were released to a Marine unit after Iraqi officers abandoned their posts.
