Branch/Rank: United States Army/Specialist
Unit: B Troop, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry of the 1st Infantry Division,
stationed in Schweinfurt, Germany.
Date of Birth: 1978 21 yrs old
Home City of Record: Huntsville TX
Date of Loss: 31 March 1999
Country of Loss: Macedonia/Serbia Yugoslavia
Loss Coordinates: last reported on a civilian road in Kumanovo, about 10
miles (16 km) from Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, and less than 3
miles (5 km) from the Kosovo border.
Status: DETAINEE -- changed to POW 04/01/99
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Humvee/Ground
Missions:
NOTE: Joined the service in Sept 1996
Other Personnel in Incident: Staff Sgt. Andrew A. Ramirez; Staff Sgt.
Christopher J. Stone
Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Compiled from news clips; AP, UPI, London Times, New York Post, ABC in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.
SYNOPSIS: Serb TV early today showed pictures of three American soldiers it said its forces captured near the Macedonian border.
The men were identified as Sergeants James Stone and Andrew Ramirez and Specialist Steven Gonzales.
The patrol, a unit from the U.S. Army's 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, was part of a NATO force put in place to secure Macedonia's border with Kosovo, a province of Serbia, Yugoslavia's dominant republic.
[All three soldiers were assigned to B Troop, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry of the 1st Infantry Division, stationed in Schweinfurt, Germany.]
The soldiers were named on television are thought to be held in the Kosovo capital, Pristina.
The vice-president of Yugolslavia, Vuk Draskovic, said: "Nothing wrong will happen to them. We are respecting the enemy.
We will be sticking to the terms of the Geneva Convention. You can be sure of that." However, he then warned: "They are going to face Serb justice."
Pentagon and NATO officials said alliance forces and Macedonian police mounted an urgent air and ground search for the soldiers, who were last reported on a civilian road in Kumanovo, about 10 miles (16 km) from Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, and less than 3 miles (5 km) from the Kosovo border.
The last words heard from them were "help, help, SOS."
Serbia claims they will hold a military trial for all 3 men.
( Note: 4/04/99 Statement released by Yugoslavian government on this date states that the 3 soldiers will not be tried and will be released as soon as the bombing stops. )
