Spc. Shoshana Johnson is a young lady whose name registers practically nothing with many people when you speak her name. That Spc. Shoshana Johnson is not as well-known as Jessica Lynch is a travesty. That she was so savagely mistreated by a government that she put her life on the line to serve and protect is unforgivable. I wrote of Shoshana in my post trilogy, “Missing White Woman Syndrome – Conclusion” ( https://kathmanduk2.wordpress.com/2007/08/08/missing-pretty-white-woman-syndrome-conclusion/ ). Here is an excerpt:
“Even the military is not immune from MPWWS.
Remember Jessica Lynch?
Remember all the hoopla over her when she was captured and held prisoner in Iraq and how the military so valiantly rescued her? Even had a TV movie-of-the-week made about her.
Forgotten in all the vigorous media play was Shoshana Johnson.
Oh, never heard of her?
She was the first black female prisoner of war in the military history of the United States.
Both were captured in the same ambush during the Iraq War on March 23, 2003, but Johnson received very little media attention in comparison to Lynch. Lynch’s story was promoted because Lynch was a more palatable and identifiable figure to promote: a young, blonde white woman, you know, your typical MPWW. Shoshana Johnson, on the other hand, was a black woman who was a single mother.
She too was captured as well, and injured too like Lynch, but, Shoshana was not rescued until 12 days after Lynch was rescued. Lynch was rescued on April 1, 2003. Shoshanna was rescued on April 13, 2003.
Lynch got a million-dollar book deal and more in disability payments from the military than Johnson.
MPWWS.”
Yes, MPWWS strikes across all aspects of life in this country: civilian—and military. Since WOC do not fit the profile of the classic MPWW, you can be rest assured that they will be ignore, pushed to the side, erased from all memory.
The unconscionable double-standard that America shows her WOC military women is sordid and abominable. I will not let Spc. Shoshana Johnson be forgotten. She has served her country so proudly and that the United States government and the U.S. military gave not a damn about her is sick and pathetic. Here are articles on Shoshana that I present to keep her in everyone’s mind, so that all that she has given to her country may never be forgotten.
Lest we forget.
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Johnson’s father . . . says that while neither he nor his family begrudge
Lynch her celebrity or disability payments, he believes that his daughter
should get her due, and it is more than a 30 percent disability benefit.
Photo left: Spc. Shoshana Johnson escorted to a transport plane at an air base in Iraq.
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Essence Exclusive: Shoshana Johnson’s Story | |
Shoshana Johnson’s Story: To Hell and Back | |
By Veronica Byrd | |
Forever etched into our memory is that image: the grainy videotape of a woman with chocolate-brown skin wearing cornrows. She could have been your sister, cousin, best friend. Instead she was a prisoner of war in Iraq.
With terror in her eyes, Shoshana Johnson brought the reality of a conflict that was a world away into our living rooms. A single mother and native of Panama who loves to cook, she had joined the Army to earn money to attend culinary-arts school. But when the news came that she was being deployed to Kuwait, Johnson, who lives in El Paso, Texas, put her car in her parents’ garage, wrote a will, and signed over power of attorney to her parents so they could take care of her then–2-year-old daughter, Janelle.
As she said good-bye to her little girl, she simply said, “Mommy has to go to work.” She didn’t tell her, “Mommy has to go to war.”
A month later, on a windy Sunday morning in March, Johnson set out from Kuwait with her unit, the 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss, in a convoy of Humvees and trucks carrying supplies. But they were ambushed after making a wrong turn near the Iraqi city of Nasiriya. Eleven U.S. soldiers were killed; Johnson was seized, along with four of her comrades, and spent 22 days in captivity before they were rescued on April 13, 2003.
When she arrived home, U.S. military officials prohibited all the former POWs from talking to the news media about their ordeal until the Army released its official report on the incident. For the first time, 31-year-old Shoshana Johnson, the first African-American female POW, tells her story of survival exclusively to Essence features editor Veronica Byrd. Here are some excepts:
Veronica Byrd: Would you describe what happened on March 23, 2003, the day you were captured?
Shoshana Johnson: Before we left Kuwait they told us that we would be traveling through two checkpoints and two cities and that we might hit sniper fire. So I knew that was a possibility. But we never expected an ambush. We heard shots and suddenly we were surrounded. We were getting shot at from all directions. I was the passenger in a truck with Specialist Edgar Hernandez. Our vehicle ran off the road. We scrambled for cover and hid underneath the truck so we could return fire. I got off one round and then my gun jammed. All of our weapons jammed because of the sand, so we had no way to return fire. Then I felt a burning sensation in my legs. I knew I had been hit. Hernandez was shot in the arm. After a while, Sergeant Riley said we had to surrender. He was the highest-ranking officer, so he went out first and put up his hands. The Iraqi soldiers came and got me because I couldn’t stand up.
Veronica: What happened after you were captured?
Shoshana: I was beaten. They slapped me and punched me in my stomach and back. I remember trying to block a blow from a rifle butt.
Veronica: Did the other soldiers try to help you?
Shoshana: They didn’t see it because they were getting beaten, too. And then my Kevlar headgear came off, and the Iraqis saw my braids. That’s when they realized I was a woman. They stopped beating me and immediately separated me from the others.
Veronica: Where did they take you?
Shoshana: They put me in the back of an SUV with two guards on each side of me. Then they took me to what looked like an office. I was terrified. There was blood coming out of my boots. Within a few minutes a doctor came in, removed my boots and bandaged my legs. The doctor spoke in broken English and said, “It’s good. Only on soft tissue.”
Veronica: What happened after that?
Shoshana: We were taken to Baghdad. Then I was examined again, and I was blindfolded during that. My pant legs were already rolled up so the doctor could see the bandages that the first doctor had put on. He unwrapped my legs and cleaned the wound. And he told me, “You need antibiotics. I’m going to give you a shot.” He said he had to give me the shot in my butt. I knew I needed the antibiotic, but I didn’t want to take any more pain medication when they offered it to me. I had taken some right before we left the first location and it had made me feel really out of it. So when the doctor asked me if I wanted more, I said no. He commented, “Strong woman.” I thought, Shut the hell up. I’m not a strong woman. It hurts! But I’m not stupid. I didn’t want to be in that state of mind again.
Veronica: I still remember the first time we saw you, right after you had been captured. What was going on when the videotape was made?
Shoshana: They shot that video within the first hour after we were captured. I was sitting in a chair, and someone with a camera came into the room. They asked me basic questions: my name, age and where I was from. It wasn’t an interrogation. I kept looking left to right because the guy who spoke English was not the same person with the microphone. So one would say something in Arabic and the other would interpret the question. The taping lasted about five minutes.
Veronica: This is a difficult question to ask. Were you raped or sexually assaulted in any way?
Shoshana: No. But in one prison the guards kept commenting that I should stay and marry an Iraqi man. At first I thought it was a joke, but after they kept saying it, I started to think they were going to keep me. One guard seemed to really like me and even tried to hold my hand one time. I would kind of duck away from him, but I always wondered when he would not let me say no. That was always in the back of my head. But there was this older guard who moved his bedding and slept right outside my cell door. I saw him when I woke up and banged on the door to ask to go to the bathroom. He did that, I think, to protect me. After that night, I never saw the other guard again.
Veronica: You must have spent a lot of time praying.
Shoshana: I did. I prayed that I would survive, but I also prayed that if I didn’t, that at least my body would be found. I wanted my parents to have a body to bury. Because if they didn’t have a body to bury, they wouldn’t be at peace. I know my mother. She wouldn’t give up until she had a body. I said, “Lord, if I die, make it quick and let my body go home to my mother.”
ESSENCE MAGAZINE, MARCH 2004.
The complete interview—including the day Shoshana thought was her last, and her feelings about the more favorable treatment of Jessica Lynch—was presented in the March 2004 issue of ESSENCE
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- Spc. Edgar Hernandez
- Spc. Joseph Hudson
- Private First Class Patrick Miller
- Sgt. James Riley – 31-year-old bachelor from Pennsauken, N.J. As the senior soldier present it was he who ordered the surrender.
- Jessica Lynch – Part of same 507 unit but held separately in a different location
Contents |
Biography
Controversy
Book deal
Military awards and decorations
- Bronze Star
- Purple Heart
- Army Commendation Medal
- Prisoner of War Medal
- Army Good Conduct Medal
- National Defense Service Medal
- Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
- Army Service Ribbon
Quotations
- “Just stay strong. Keep your dignity. Try not to let them break you.” – Advice to then-POW Shoshana Johnson from her sister Nikki
- “She always had an angel following her around. She always manages to get out of stuff. Hopefully her angel is still with her.” – Nikki Johnson on her then-POW sister, Shoshana’s good luck.
References
- ^ “Then & Now: Shoshana Johnson“, CNN, May 26, 2005. Retrieved on 2005-06-19.
- ^ “Former Iraq POW Johnson signs book deal“, USA Today, August 10, 2006.
External links
- “POW planned on cooking, not fighting“, CNN, March 26, 2003.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for telling this story so completely and so powerfully! I will mention this post to my readers this weekend.
Shoshana and Jessica’s stories could not have been more different. Jessica was severely injured, near death upon her rescue. Shoshana, shot in both legs, did not sustain the injuries that would warrant as much disability payment.
As for their stories: I attempted to contact both Jessica Lynch and Shoshana Johnson while doing research for my book, “Marines in the Garden of Eden.” Neither responded to my request for an interview. Still, I told both their stories.
As a matter of fact, I told much more of Shoshana’s story on the day of the ambush, than Lynch’s. I also told the story of every member of the 507th ambush. Eleven soldiers and 18 Marines were killed that day in Nasiriyah.
Let’s not forget those Americans either:
1. SPC Jamaal R. Addison
2. SPC Edward J. Anguiano
3. Sgt. Michael E. Bitz
4. LCpl Thomas A. Blair
5. LCpl Brian Rory Buesing
6. Sgt. George Edward Buggs
7. Pfc. Tamario D. Burkett
8. Cpl Kemaphoom A. Chanawongse
9. LCpl Donald Cline, Jr.
10. Master Sgt. Robert J. Dowdy
11. PVT Ruben Estrella-Soto
12. LCpl David K. Fribley
13. Cpl. Jose A. Garibay
14. Pvt. Jonathan L. Gifford
15. Cpl. Jorge A. Gonzalez
16. Pvt. Nolen R. Hutchings
17. PFC Howard Johnson II,
18. SSgt Phillip A. Jordan
19. SPC James M. Kiehl
20. CWO2 Johnny Mata
21. Cpl Patrick R. Nixon
22. Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa
23. 2Lt Frederick E. Pokorney Jr.
24. Sgt. Brendon C. Reiss
25. Cpl. Randal Kent Rosacker
26. PVT Brandon Ulysses Sloan
27. LCpl Thomas J. Slocum
28. Sgt Donald Ralph Walters
29. LCpl Michael J. Williams
These men and a single woman came from all walks of life and every corner of this nation. They died in the service of their country. Please remember them.
Thanks again for writing Shoshana Johnson’s story and her place in American life.
She deserves better than what America dished out to her. She needs to be honored just as Jessica was honored when both were captured in Iraq.
She won’t be fogotten.
Stephanie B.
Mr. Lowry how can you tell my story if we have not spoken. I can speak for myself. Please stop using me to promote your book. Haven’t I given enough?
Ms. Johnson.
Thank you for your comments and thank you for stopping by my blog.
Let it be known that any Black person who serve for the US military is a fool. It is better just to hit the library and study.
You risk your life for spoiled white kids, who would not lift a finger if you lay dying in the street.
wow, thats real harsh…i am a black person serving in military, a black female that is.
DD Form 149, Sep 1997 application for corrections of Military records under the provisions of title 10 us code, section 1552
She got out of the military on TDRL 50%, dont seem right even with the appeal! gun shot wounds may amount to the 50%, BUT the PTSD was that included in her retirement, or was there even a Diagnosis or PTSD?? 2003 Ptsd wasnt thought or vastly or at all, kind of sad that till resently its being reconized.
DID she recieve CRSC when she got out to supplement for not recieving retirement from the military (concurrent reciept)? july 2009 ‘pittance’ is she eligable for that?
questions inform thy self..wanted to share it took me to too long to find these terms, if your allotted through change due to military service take if your so choose.
hope all works out for her, found it interested I found out about her today is it my ignorance or public media not sharing the info at fault? doesnt matter all lead me to today and im happy with that.
I did like her ” ” in the P/R sounds like a good women!
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iam ablack american frm a military navy family
i never thought this woman got a fair treatment
she sacrificed just being in harms way to serve her country. why shouldnt she get the same benefits
as Jessica Lynch. It shows MARTIN LUTHER KINGS speeches were in vain. IT BOILS down
to one thing.PREDUJICE
She was ignored because she was black or because Jessica Lynch was a cute blonde and it made a better story. No one was ignored, the only reason Lynch became a huge interest was because she was taken seperatly from the others. Everyone knew it was going to be alot worse for the soldier who was seperated from the others and had to work quicker on rescuing her first. Thats it!!!!
I meant, she wasn’t ignored because she was black. Better make that clear before everyone reads my error and flipps out.