Melissa rathbun nealy biography

And then, how her life changed on Jan. More than three weeks before the hour ground war began, Coleman and her partner, year-old Spec. David Lockett of Bessemer, Ala. Blood splattered. Coleman was shot in the arm. Both were cut by shrapnel. The truck stalled. Lockett pulled Coleman out, and before they knew it, they were surrounded by 10 to 15 Iraqi soldiers wielding AKs.

Over the next day and a half, the two were whisked across the desert and interrogated at abandoned buildings along the way. While some of the 21 U. POWs said they were beaten, starved or held in solitary confinement, Coleman says she was fed three meals a day, given access to a courtyard and allowed to walk freely from her cell to a bathroom down the hall.

He went out and bought a fifth of whiskey. After a couple of drinks, the doorbell rang. Through the window, Rathbun saw an Army uniform. It was the beginning of a long month of waiting and wondering. Bliss, Texas. She was in Saudi Arabia since October, She was married for about a year to Army Sgt. Anthony Nealy, who is currently serving in Saudi Arabia.

Iraq apparently is using a captured American woman soldier as a human shield against allied air raids, a Pentagon official said yesterday. Army Spec. AP The father of the only woman soldier missing in action in the Persian Gulf War hoped to help win her release by asking Saddam Hussein to acknowledge his daughter as a prisoner of war.

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As one of the prisoners of war in Operation Desert Storm, I was the first enlisted female prisoner of war in American history. I am still a member of the United States Armed Forces. The motivation behind the writing of this letter is my reading of a recent article in the newspaper. Firstly, as a citizen of the United States, but most importantly, as a member of the Armed Forces and a former prisoner of war in Iraq, I am outraged beyond belief.

It was also printed in the article that the money is coming out of a special fund for refugees. Why it is that the Iraqis and other refugees have a special fund here in America, but there is no special fund for Veterans Administration facilities?

Melissa rathbun nealy biography

There are so many veterans from this war and others who are desperately trying to make ends meet and heaven forbid that they might have a family to support, who would give a body part to receive seven thousand dollars from the United States government. This brings me to another issue that has been on my mind and probably on the minds of many other American citizens.

How can the United States government possibly justify sending aid to Kuwait, Somalia or Bosnia when they are not even taking care of their own people? So many times I have heard a news report stating that food has been air-lifted and dropped over these poor countries with all of these starving citizens. When was the last time any of you took a walk around any of our "wonderful" cities here in our country?

Why don't you come down off your high horses and step out of your glass houses and take a look at what is really happening in this country. Little children and entire families are struggling every minute, eating out of trash cans, sleeping on sidewalks or in parks, and getting beaten, ridiculed and sometimes killed just trying to stay alive. For what?

To walk past a store window and see little Ethiopian or Cambodian or whatever country is being exploited that day on television, looking on pitifully as an American begs us to send money to feed and clothe them. Why can't the government take some of our money that they spend on the commercials and the shipping of these supplies and give it to the Americans that need it?

Verne G. Donnelly of Marysville, Calif. The Navy captain had been listed as missing in action since his plane was shot down over North Vietnam on Sept. There are still 2, American soldiers who fought in Vietnam who are unaccounted for, according to the league, which is offering support services to families who have a relative missing or held captive in the Persian Gulf.

Wilma L. Vaught, who heads the foundation, which was created by legislation in On Jan. The captain told the stunned Rathbuns that their daughter, a driver in the rd Transportation Company, based at Fort Bliss, Texas, had joined the haunting wartime roster of the missing. The Rathbuns had heard on the news earlier that night that a female soldier had been declared missing.

Rathbun could not speak for two days. Friends have been at their side since the grim news was delivered. The Rev. Ray Bruck, their priest, has prayed with them, and for them.