Troops in Iraq Scour Fields To Find Bodies
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
BAGHDAD — Thousands of American and Iraqi troops fanned out across the fields of southern Iraq in scorching temperatures yesterday as the military said it was determined to find two missing American soldiers after the body of a third was pulled from a river.
The military confirmed that the body found Wednesday in the Euphrates River south of Baghdad was that of Private First Class Joseph Anzack Jr., of Torrance, Calif., who had been missing since militants ambushed his unit nearly two weeks ago.
A commanding officer identified the remains recovered from the river, but DNA tests were still pending, military officials told Anzack’s family. “They told us, ‘We’re sorry to inform you the body we found has been identified as Joe,”‘ the soldier’s aunt, Debbie Anzack, said. “I’m in disbelief.”
Anzack, 20, vanished along with the two other soldiers after their combat team was ambushed May 12 about 20 miles outside Baghdad. Five others, including an Iraqi, were killed in the ambush, subsequently claimed by Al Qaeda.
Members of Anzack’s platoon choked back tears at news of his death and said they would not stop looking for the other two missing soldiers.
“We can’t leave them behind. I just hope that they have enough faith to keep them going. What they’re going through right now, I can’t imagine,” Private First Class Sammy Rhodes, 25, of Albuquerque, N.M., said.
Specialist Daniel Seitz, 22, of Pensacola, Fla., said he was trying to stay strong and push ahead with the search.
“It just angers me that it’s just another friend I’ve got to lose and deal with, because I’ve already lost 13 friends since I’ve been here and I don’t know if I can take any more of this,” he said.
Lieutenant Colonel Josslyn Aberle denied reports that a second body had been found and was being examined to determine if it was that of another of the missing soldiers. “The reports of a second set of remains being found is a false report,” the spokeswoman said.
The American military also said two American soldiers were killed Wednesday during combat operations in Iraq’s volatile Anbar province.
