Family of TV soldier pray for his return

THE family of a US airman paraded on Iraqi television after his Apache helicopter was forced down during heavy fighting, yesterday spoke of their hopes that he would return home unharmed.

Chief Warrant Officer Ronald Young was captured with fellow crewman Chief Warrant Officer David Williams 50 miles south of Baghdad in central Iraq.

Young’s father, also called Ronald, said: “I am just hoping for a safe return home. That is all I have got on my mind now.”

His mother Kay, from Georgia, said the 26-year-old wanted to serve in Iraq.

“He looks like he always looks when he is angry,” she said of the broadcast.

“He’s a tough soldier and he believes in what he’s doing. He wanted to go.”

Young, 26, from Florida, and Williams, 30, who are based at Fort Hood, Texas, were dressed in cream-coloured overalls and appeared confused during the television footage.

They did not speak to the camera but turned their heads and looked in different directions as they were filmed.

The images were expected to spark outrage from the allied forces after the angry reaction when five US soldiers captured further south near Nasiriyah were shown on television.

The New York Times reported that Iraqi forces brought down two of the advanced Apache helicopters with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Returning pilots likened the fierce fire they faced to a “hornet’s nest”.