TASK FORCE OMEGA, INC.

MIA – Capt. (Cmdr. at time of loss) Michael Scott Speicher, USN, Jacksonville, FL – age 33 – FA-18 pilot

On 11 January 2001, Secretary of the Navy Danzig announced "the Department of the Navy is changing the status of Cmdr. Michael S. "Spike" Speicher, the first American shot down on 17 January 1991 over land during the Persian Gulf War, from Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered under a Presumptive Finding of Death (KIA/PFOD) to Missing in Action." This unprecedented action to change a military man’s status from a living category (POW or MIA) to dead by a legal status change, then reverse that action and return him to a living status of Prisoner of War or Missing in Action, has never before been allowed to happen by our government! Up until now, once a POW/MIA was removed from a living status and declared dead under a legal status change, the USG emphatically refused to return him/her to a living status no matter what. The legal ramifications of this action are immense. Subsequently, President Bush authorized now Capt. Speicher’s status to be upgraded from MIA to MIA/Captured. The official definition of "MIA/Captured" is "if found alive, he is a Prisoner of War."

NOTE: There are 15 other men unaccounted for from Gulf War I. Each one was listed KIA/BNR at the time of loss or shortly thereafter. Scott Speicher was the only one in the live category of Missing in Action when that war ended.

23 March 2003 (Sunday) – 507^th Maintenance Company, which is attached to the 32nd Army Air Defense Command, Fort Bliss, TX

RESCUED by US forces on 1 April 2003 – original status: MIA - PFC Jessica D. Lynch, USA, Palestine, WV – age 19 – supply clerk

NOTE: The 8 sets of American remains identified on 5 April 2003 were recovered from graves on the hospital grounds by US forces at the same time that PFC Lynch was rescued.

RELEASED - POW - SPC Joseph N. Hudson, USA, Alamogordo, NM – age 23
RELEASED - POW - PFC Patrick W. Miller, USA, Park City, KS – age 23
RELEASED - POW - SPC Shoshana N. Johnson, USA, El Paso, TX – age 30 – cook/chef
RELEASED - POW - SPC Edgar A. Hernandez, USA, Mission, TX – age 21 – truck driver
RELEASED - POW - Sgt. James J. Riley, USA, Pennsauken, NJ (dual citizenship – US & New Zealand) – age 31

13 April 2003, all 7 confirmed POWs released by guards near Samarra after their officers deserted their unit. The POWs were turned over to US Marines and immediately flown out of Iraq.

MIA - PFC Lori A. Piestewa, USA, Tuba City, AZ – age 22 – supply clerk
    KIA/BR - Remains Recovered 1 April 2003; Identified 5 April 2003
MIA - SPC James M. Kiehl, USA, Des Moines, IA – age 22 – computer repair technician
    KIA/BR - Remains Recovered 1 April 2003; Identified 5 April 2003
MIA - Pvt. Brandon U. Sloan, USA, Bedford, OH – age 19
    KIA/BR - Remains Recovered 1 April 2003; Identified 5 April 2003
MIA - Sgt. Donald R. Walters, USA, Salem, OR – age 33
    KIA/BR - Remains Recovered 1 April 2003; Identified 5 April 2003
MIA - MSG. Robert J. Dowdy, USA, Cleveland, OH – age 38
    KIA/BR - Remains Recovered 1 April 2003; Identified 5 April 2003
MIA - Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto, USA, El Paso, TX – age 18
    KIA/BR - Remains Recovered 1 April 2003; Identified 5 April 2003
MIA – CW2 Johnny V. Mata, El Paso, TX – age 35
    KIA/BR - Remains Recovered 1 April 2003; Identified 5 April 2003

Members of an Army supply convoy that was ambushed by Iraqi soldiers outside Nasiriya. Five confirmed captured and six missing. Others were killed and their remains were left – recovered by US personnel. One soldier (James Grubb, age 21) was wounded and evidently managed to E&E to safety.

23 March 2003 (Sunday) – 3^rd Forward Combat Support Battalion, 3^rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, GA

MIA – Sgt. George E. Buggs, Barnwell, SC – age 31
KIA/BR - Remains Recovered 1 April 2003; Identified 5 April 2003
MIA – Sgt. Edward J. Anguiano, Brownsville, TX – age 24 – mechanic
KIA/BR - Remains Recovered 1 April 2003; Identified 27 April 2003
PFC Pamela Moran, USA, Northglenn, CO – age 23 --- MIA 2 days, found alive and uninjured. Returned to duty with the 507^th Maintenance Company, which is attached to the 32^nd Army Air and Missile Command.

23 March 2003 (Sunday) – United States Marine Corps – 1^st Battalion, 2^nd Marine Regiment, 1^st Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, NC

MIA – LCpl. Michael J. Williams, USMC, Yuma, AZ – age 31
    KIA/BR - Remains Identified 28 March 2003
MIA – Cpl. Patrick R. Nixon, USMC, Gallatin, TN – age 21
    KIA/BR - Remains Identified 30 March 2003
MIA – Sgt. Fernando Padilla-Ramirez, Yuma, AZ – age 26
    KIA/BR - Remains Identified 10 April 2003
MIA – PFC Francisco A. Martinez-Flores, Los Angeles, CA – age 21
    KIA/BR - Remains Identified 31 March 2003
MIA – SSgt. Donald C. May, Jr., Richmond, VA – age 31
    KIA/BR - Remains Identified 31 March 2003
MIA – LCpl. Patrick T. O’Day, Sonoma, CA – age 20
    KIA/BR - Remains Identified 31 March 2003
MIA – Sgt. Brendon Reiss, Casper, WY – age 23 – machine gunner
    KIA/BR - Remains Identified 11 April 2003
MIA – LCpl. Donald J. Cline, USMC, Sparks, NV – age
    KIA/BR - Remains Identified 14 April 2003
MIA – PFC Tamario D. Burkett, USMC, Buffalo, NY – age 21
    KIA/BR - Remains Identified 14 April 2003
MIA – Pvt. Nolen R. Hutchings. USMC, Boiling Springs, SC – age 19
    KIA/BR - Remains Identified 14 April 2003
MIA – Pvt. Jonathan L. Gifford, USMC, Macon, IL – age 30
    KIA/BR - Remains Identified 14 April 2003
MIA – Cpl. Kemaphoom A Chanawongse, USMC, Waterford, CT – age 22
    KIA/BR - Remains Identified 16 April 2003

23 March 2003 (Sunday) – United States Marine Corps – 2^nd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, Marine Air Control Group 28, 2^nd Marine Air Wing, Cherry Point, NC

MIA – LCpl. Thomas A. Blair, USMC, Broken Arrow, OK – age 24
KIA/BR - Remains Identified 29 March 2003

All Marines assigned to unit, code named Timber Wolf, listed Missing in Action after an ambush on Sunday near Nasiriya that took the lives of 9 other Marines. The ambush took place shortly after dawn as the unit approached the southern edge of Nasiriya that straddles the Euphrates River. The Marine objective was to secure the bridges and retrieve wounded Army soldiers from the US Army’s 507^th Maintenance Company.

The 3 Marines whose tank went off the bridge into the Euphrates River during the storm and who are believed drowned are PFC Martinez-Flores, SSgt. May and LCpl. O’Day.

London, England
MIA – Terry Lloyd – television reporter
KIA/BR - Remains Identified 7 April 2003
MIA – Fred Nerac – member of news crew
MIA – Hussein Osman – member of news crew

News crew came under fire while driving in two cars towards Basra in Southern Iraq. A fourth crewmember, Daniel Demoustier, was injured in the incident at Iman Anas, near Basabut, but was able to get to safety. He was not able to see what happened to the other 3 men.

24 March 2003 (Monday) – Company C, 1^st Battalion, 227^th Aviation Regiment, 4^th Brigade, 1^st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, TX

RELEASED - POW - CW2 Ronald D. Young, Jr., USA, Lithia Springs, GA – age 26 – aircrew, Apache helicopter
RELEASED - POW - CW2 David S. Williams, USA, Orlando, FL – age 30 – aircrew, Apache helicopter
Aircrew captured after their helicopter was shot down by small arms fire in the Hindiya District, approximately 12 kilometers southwest of Baghdad.

24 March 2003 (Monday) – 6^th Engineer Support Battalion, Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center, Peoria, IL

MIA - Cpl. Evan James, USMC, La Harpe, IL – age 20
KIA/BR - Remains Recovered 25 March 2003
MIA - Sgt. Brad Korthaus, USMC, Davenport, IA – age 29
KIA/BR - Remains Recovered 26 March 2003

Both Marines were in a patrol – 4 members of the patrol attempted to cross the Saddam Canal in southeastern Iraq when 2 of the Marines disappeared under water and drowned. The other two Marines made it across safely. The remains were later recovered.
24 March 2003 (Monday) – Civilian Journalists

Matthew McAllister – Reporter for Newsday, Long Island, NY
Moises Saman – Photographer for Newsday, Long Island, NY
Molly Bingham – Reporter for Esquire Magazine, Louisville, KY – taken from Palestine Hotel, Baghdad
Johan R. Spanner – Danish freelance photographer
All four journalists were captured and imprisoned for a week by people from Iraq’s "Ministry of Information" before being released on 31 March 2003 (Monday).

2 April 2003 (Wednesday) – Fighter Squadron 195, Carrier Air Wing 5, USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63)

MIA – Lt. Nathan D. White, USN, Mesa, AZ – age 30 – pilot
KIA/BR - Remains Identified 11 April 2003

A single-seat F/A-18 Hornet was downed shortly before midnight and its pilot declared Missing in Action. The Navy is providing very few details about the loss due to probability that it was shot down by a Patriot missile. Another pilot in the flight reported seeing "a flash in the sky" near the Hornet before it disappeared.

6 April 2003 (Sunday) – 333^rd Fighter Squadron, 4^th Fighter Wing, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, NC

MIA – Maj. William Watkins, USAF, age – weapons systems officer
KIA/BR – Remains Identified 23 April 2003
MIA – Capt. Eric B. Das, USAF, Amarillo, TX, age 30 – pilot
KIA/BR – Remains Identified 18 April 2003

Technically and originally listed as "Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN)," 2 crewmen aboard an Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle downed by unknown causes at approximately 1930 hours EDT. The remains of Capt. Das and Major Watkins were recovered from the crash site and subsequently identified.

Marcin Filej – Reporter for TVN24 (a private news channel) – age 27
Jacek Kaczmarek – Polish public radio – age 31

Two foreign journalists were seized by at least 5 Iraqis – some in uniform, others in civilian clothes – while traveling with a convoy from Nasiriya and Karbala. The journalists’ car was stopped near the town of Hilla. The Iraqis ordered the two journalists get out of their car. As they did so, a second car carrying other foreign reporters abruptly turned around and sped away in the direction they had come. As they did so, the Iraqis fired on them.

10 December 2003 (Wednesday) – 135^th Military Police Company, Army National Guard, Brookpark, OH

DUSTWUN – SPC. Todd M. Bates, USA, Bellaire, OH, age 20

KIA/BR – Remains Identified 23 December 2003

His unit was conducting a river patrol on the Tigris River south of Baghdad, Iraq, when his squad leader fell overboard. He dove into the water after the squad leader and did not surface. The squad leader was rescued, but no sign of Spc. Bates was found. Todd Bates body was subsequently recovered, positively identified and his status changed.

25 January 2004 (Sunday) - 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry, Ft. Lewis, WA under the operational control of the 101st Airborne Division

DUSTWUN - SSgt. Christopher Bunda, USA, WA, age 29
KIA/BR - Remains Recovered and Identified 10 February 2004

During a river patrol on the Tigris River with local police in Mosul, four soldiers fell into the river when their boat capsized. A search and rescue (SAR) operation was immediately initiated, but ran into trouble of its own.

25 January 2004 (Sunday) - 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 10th Mountain Division, Ft. Drum, NY under the operation control of the 101st Airborne Division

DUSTWUN - 1st Lt. Adam G. Mooney, USA, Cambridge, MD, age 28 - pilot

KIA/BR – Remains Recovered and Identified 14 February 2004

DUSTWUN - CWO Patrick D. Dorff, USA, MN, age 32 - co-pilot
            KIA/BR - Remains Recovered and Identified 29 January 2004

The aircrew of one of the two OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopters assigned to the SAR mission for SSgt. Bunda whose boat capsized on the Tigris River earlier the same day. The helicopter crashed into the river as it flew low over the river searching for the missing soldier. The submerged wreckage of the aircraft was found and examined by military divers. They did not find the bodies of either pilot in the aircraft.

24 March 2004 (Wednesday) – Prometheus Methods Tower Service, Inc., Philadelphia, PA

POW – Nicholas “Nick” Berg, Philadelphia, PA, age 26
    Executed publicly in Abu Ghraib Prison on 8 May 2004 (Saturday)

Independent contractor originally “detained by Iraqi police at a checkpoint in Mosul on suspicion of possible involvement in illegal or terrorist activities.” Three days after his body was found near a highway overpass in Baghdad, a video of his execution was aired on television.

9 April 2004 (Friday) – 724th Transportation Company, Bartonville, IL

DUSTWUN – Sgt. Elmer C. Krause, USA, Greensboro, NC, age 40
    KIA/BR – Remains Recovered and Identified 2004
DUSTWUN – PFC Keith M. “Matt” Maupin, USA, Batavia, OH, age 20
    Confirmed as POW when a video tape showing him in captivity was aired to the world on television.
Reportedly Executed with a bullet to the back of the head. A dark and grainy video tape was aired on Al-Jazeera television 28 June 2004, but the quality of the tape was not good enough to confirm the identity of the man being murdered.

The 2-man crew of supply truck who disappeared when they were ambushed by individuals using rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and small arms. The truck set ablaze on the road leading away from the Baghdad Airport after it was looted and the supplies carried away from the truck while Iraqi police watched, but did not intervene.

9 April 2004 (Friday) – Kellogg, Brown & Root Corporation, division of Halliburton Company, Houston, TX

POW - Thomas “Tommy” Hammill, Macon, MS, age 44
    Escaped - 2 May 2004 from a farmhouse approximately 50 miles north of Baghdad
MIA - Thomas E. “Tom” Bell, Mobile, AL, age 44
MIA - William “Bill” Bradley, Chesterfield, NH, age 50
POW – Bulent Yanik, Turkey, age 35
    Released near Fallujah, 40 miles West of Baghdad on 17 June 2004
POW – Victor Tawfiq Jerges, Egypt, age 45
    Released near Fallujah, 40 miles West of Baghdad on 17 June 2004
MIA - , Poland,
MIA - , Poland,

Truck drivers in supply convoy ambushed by individuals using rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and small arms. The truck set ablaze on the road leading away from the Baghdad Airport after it was looted and the supplies carried away from the truck while Iraqi police watched, but did not intervene. 2 American military and 7 civilian employees of KBR were kidnapped while militants freed 9 captive truck drivers captured earlier.

12 April 2004 (Monday) – Civilian Security Guards

POW – Maurizio Agliana, Italian, age 37
    Rescued 8 June 2004
POW – Umberto Cupertino, Italian, age 35
    Rescued 8 June 2004
POW – Salvatore Stefio, Italian, age 34
    Rescued 8 June 2004
POW – Fabrizio Quattrocchi, Italian, age 36
    Executed publicly, aired on television 14 April 2004

POW – Jerzy Kos, civilian Polish contractor
    Rescued – with 3 Italians 8 June 2004

The 4 civilian Foreign National were rescued without loss of life by “special units” in the city of Ramadi, northwest of Baghdad.

12 June 2004, (Monday) Lockheed Martin Corporation, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

POW – Paul M. Johnson, Jr., Orlando, FL , age 49
    Executed publicly 18 June 2004

Civilian engineer working on Apache helicopters in Saudi Arabia where he lived and worked for more than 10 years. Captured by Abdel Aziz Al-Muqrin, a self proclaimed military leader of Al Qaeda.

17 June 2004, (Thursday), Gana Trading Company

POW – Kim Sun-Il, Busan (suburb of Pusan) South Korea, age 33
Executed publicly 22 June 2004

A civilian translator for a South Korean company that supplies equipment to the US military. He had been in Iraq since June 2003. Kim Sun-Il was captured near Falluja by member of Jamat al-Tawhid. They threatened to execute him in 24 hours if the South Korean government did not cancel plans to deploy 3000 troops to northern Iraq in early August.

23 Jun 2004, (Thursday)

POW- Names unknown at this time
3 Turkish workers were abducted by Militants loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, threatening to behead them in 72 hours if Turkey does not withdraw support from Iraq.

25 June 2004, (Friday)

POW- Amjad Yousef a Pakistani worker, working for Kellogg, Brown & Root, was captured Friday 25 June. Captors are demanding that prisoners be released from several detention centers, and Pakistan close its Embassy in Iraq. The deadline is 72 hours.

27 June 2004 (Sunday), 1^st Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, NC

POW - Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, USMC, West Jordan, UT (born in Lebanon), age 24

Released 9 July 2004

Military linguist/translator fluent in Arabic, French and English who was lured away from his post and captured by the Islamic Retaliation Movement/Armed Resistance Wing. Last seen alive when Al-Jazeera television broadcast a video tape showing him sitting blindfolded in front of his captures’ who were holding a sword above his head as they stated their intent to kill him unless the United States “releases all Iraqis (being held) in occupation jails.”

Reportedly Executed, beheaded day of capture per news broadcast. On 5 July, his brother in Lebanon was told that Cpl. Hassoun had not been killed, but had been moved to a secure area. On 6 July, news reports aired stating “the Marine had been released,” but no proof to support the report was provided. On 19 July, Cpl. Hassoun gave a news interview at Camp Lejeune, NC stating for the record that he had in fact been captured and held for 19 days before being released through family in Lebanon. He denied that “leaving the Marine Corps” was part of the agreement for his release.

Cpl. Hassoun was on his second tour of duty in Iraq.

6 July 2004 (Tuesday)

POW – Alsayeid Mohammed Alsayeid Algarabawi, Egyptian, age

Civilian fuel tanker truck driver kidnapped by group identifying itself as “Iraqi Legitimate Resistance” while he was driving his fuel truck from Saudi Arabia to Iraq. The truck’s cargo was destined for use by US forces. A video tape only aired on al-Jazeera television reportedly showed the captive surrounded by armed and masked members of the group standing around him.

GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATION