February IO, 2010
The
Portland Observer Black H istory M o n th
Page 5
Ex-POW Writes Black History Memoir
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I’m Still
Standing ’
sets record
straight
...
—
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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
•
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