22 days in captivity after battle of An Nasiriyah
Cpl. Hudson spent
22 days in captivity after battle of An Nasiriyah
JEFF GRANIT staff Cpl. Joseph Hudson speaks at Fort Monmouth about his experience being held captive after his unit was ambushed in Iraq.
BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer
Cpl. Joseph Hudson has learned some of the hardest lessons of battle. A mechanic with the 507th Maintenance Company, based at Fort Bliss, Texas, Hudson and his fellow soldiers found themselves in one of the earliest and most fierce ground battles of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was one of seven soldiers captured by the Iraqis March 23 in a battle in An Nasiriyah. Nine members of the 507th and two members of the 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga., died in the battle.
Hudson, who spoke at Gibbs Hall at Fort Monmouth on Tuesday, spent 22 days in captivity before being released April 13 after U.S. forces gained control of Baghdad. He said he cannot recall some of the days he spent in captivity, but thoughts of his wife and 6-year-old daughter helped him get through the experience.
"I was pissed off from the day of captivity until the fifth day. The fifth day it [the situation] set in," said Hudson, who is from New Mexico.
The 507th Maintenance Company was the final unit in a march column of 600 vehicles that left Kuwait on March 20, the day the ground assault in Iraq began. Its assigned responsibility was to support a Patriot Missile battalion.
Part of the 507th became isolated from the convoy when it stopped to help recover heavy wheeled vehicles stuck in soft sand or broken down in the desert. That separation, along with communication problems related to the unit being constantly on the move, preceded the battle in which Hudson was captured.
According to the Army’s official report on the attack, Hudson, who was wounded in the battle, attempted to fire his M249 SAW, a light machine gun, while driving a wrecker towing a 5-ton tractor-trailer. His weapon malfunctioned, but he was able to maneuver through obstacles, including an Iraqi tank placed in the road, before his vehicle was disabled on the southern edge of the city. He was then surrounded and pulled from the vehicle.
Hudson said you cannot prepare for the realities of war or for captivity through regular training.
"You train as you fight," he said. "There is no way to learn to be a POW. You have to make the best of the situation."
The soldier said the experiences he encountered have made him appreciate life more and cherish the times with his family, his daughter and his wife.
"I am still here and I have something to live for," he said. "I know my experiences will help save lives."
Hudson thinks of war as being "in your face" all the time.
"There is no such thing as a front line or rear line," he said.
Today Hudson is back at work for the military and trying to get his life to resemble the way it once was. He credits his wife for keeping things together throughout the ordeal.
"My wife was very strong while all of this was happening," he said, noting that she explained to their daughter that he was in trouble but was coming home soon.
Hudson said he keeps in touch with his fellow POWs on a weekly basis because he feels a special relationship developed among them, a bond they share as former prisoners of war.
For now, Hudson said he plans to continue his Army career, but if he chooses to go in another direction at some point, he knows there is still an important contribution he has to make.
"If I decided to get out of the Army, I will still go [talk] to classes because I know my experiences will help someone else," he said.