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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 2010)
February IO, 2010 The Portland Observer Black H istory M o n th Page 5 Ex-POW Writes Black History Memoir * L ¥ I l~~ L. ’ Ä— ^ 1 1 1 I’m Still Standing ’ sets record straight ... — “1 SH3SMARA jo m o * ShoshanaJohnson M lA n ln n c n p r jealous o f f k her. "Jessica is my friend," Johnson writes. "I was her friend before the ambush and I'm still her friend now." One o f the most brutal things Johnson endured was a captor grab bing her chest. She tells in her book o f mobs o f Iraqi people coming to view her as a vehicle she was in traveled from town to town, with one villager slapping her and another . _ spitting on her. D . But while the men endured beatings during the captiv ity, she said she was treated better. She describes acts o f kindness, too, by the Iraqis. One doctor oper ated on her legs, which she credits with allowing her to keep them. An other doctor early in her captivity whispered to her that a woman Johnson assumed was Lynch was alive, which provided comfort. a STAND (AP) — Shoshana Johnson sur I STILL vived gunshot wounds to both iKM {uri• i i V nt k mt <r ,*?* »’ < legs and 22 days as a prisoner o f war in Iraq. Life wasn't so easy when she came home, either. In a new book, the 37-year-old The nation's first black pris single mother describes mental oner o f war sets the record health problems related to her cap straight in her book, ‘I ’m Still tivity and tells how it felt to play Standing. ’ second fiddle in the media to fellow POW Jessica Lynch, who was cap discharged from the military in part tured in the same ambush. because she felt other soldiers re "It was kind o f hurtful," the sented her over the attention her former Army cook said. "Ifl'dbeen POW status attracted. a petite, cutesy thing, it would've She's also struggled with depres been different." sion and nightmares. At times it was Johnson, the nation's first fe so bad, she writes, that her daughter, m ale black prisoner o f war, said who was 2 at the time Johnson was she felt she was portrayed d iffer captured, asked Johnson's parents, ently because o f her race, either "Why is Mommy crying all the time?" by m edia outlets that chose not In 2008, she checked herself into to cover her experience or those a psychiatric ward for a few days. who p ortrayed her as greedy "Even when I came home, I didn't when she challenged the disabil think I'd ever get better. I didn't think ity rating she was given for her the issues I had would ever ease," post-traum atic stress disorder. Johnson said in the interview. "But While the story o f Lynch, then as time goes on and I stick with my 19, remains firmly in the nation's therapy, it has gotten easier, and I collective memory from the 2003 know ifl keep on the right track. I'll be U.S. invasion o f Iraq, far less atten OK." tion has been paid to Johnson, It was hard at first to admit to then 30, and four male soldiers from having PTSD, she said, because she the 507th Maintenance Co. from thought of it as something that hap Fort Bliss, Texas, who also sur pened to Vietnam veterans. vived captivity. "When they started throwing out Johnson was rescued by Ma that word when I came home, I was rines, about tw o w eeks after like, no, that's not me," Johnson said. Lynch's rescue. Months after re Today, Johnson is training to be turning home, Johnson left the mili a pastry chef so she can make wed tary and today is enrolled in culi ding and birthday cakes. nary school. She lives in El Paso, "It would just be nice to be able to Texas, with her 9-year-old daugh celebrate those special moments ter. with people," she said. "After every Johnson's book, "I'm Still Stand thing that's gone on, I think those ing," is being released in time for kinds o f moments are very special." Black History Month. Johnson said After successfully fighting to re she hopes that by telling her story, ceive improved disability benefits she can set the record straight and stemming from her PTSD, she was bring attention to mental health is later asked to serve on the Veterans sues affecting veterans. Affairs Department's panel on mi The day o f the 2003 ambush, nority affairs. Johnson and Lynch were among 33 She speaks proudly o f the other U.S. soldiers in a convoy that got PO Ws in captivity with her and keeps lost in Nasiriyah en route to Baghdad. in touch with them. She said they Their journey, Johnson said, was schedule annual POW exams — the hampered by broken-down vehicles Defense Department is studying the and m alfunctioning equipment. effects o f captivity — at the same Eleven were killed — including time in Florida so they can see each Johnson's friend Army Pfc. Lori other. Piestewa. Contrary to speculation, Johnson Johnson asked to be medically said she was never angry at Lynch or • Fw ■ A I A w. Cutting Kilowatts: much easier than cutting calories. Lowering your energy intake is easy and painless. Installing com pact fluorescent light bulbs, turning dow n your therm ostat, making simple hom e im provem ents - they all add up to low er electricity use. W e also have programs and incentives to help you save even more. You'll find all the answers at p a c ific p o w e r.n e t _ M . "^PACIFIC POWER Let's turn the answers on. -■ - ■ 40 q (