Image via WFAA
Shoshana Johnson is a U.S. Army veteran, and the first black women to be held as a prisoner of war, but many still don’t know her story.
Johnson, a native of Panama, who moved to the United States as a child, joined the United States Army in 1998. In 2003, she was deployed to Iraq. In March of that year, one month after her arrival, Johnson along with her group was ambushed by Iraqi soldiers after being separated from a 600-vehicle convoy. During the ambush, nine of her fellow soldiers were killed, and Johnson was hit twice in the leg with bullets. She describes the moment her commanding officer made the painstaking decision to surrender.
“They just pound the daylights out of you,” she said of her captors. “They didn’t realize I was a female until the Kevlar — my cap came off, and they saw my braids and they backed off,” Johnson says.
Johnson was rescued in April of 2003, along with 6 other prisoners of war. She arrived in the United States to a cheering crowd and national media attention. Johnson left the U.S. Army on a Temporary Disability Honorable Discharge in December of 2003. She was awarded the Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, and the Prisoner of War Medal. She also received several awards from numerous private organizations.
Despite her accolades, many critics felt that Johnson’s story was overshadowed by that of Jessica Lynch, a white woman who had also been held captive in Iraq, and subsequently rescued. Lynch appeared to receive greater media attention and opportunities. Johnson, however, has maintained that she feels no hostility or rivalry towards Lynch.
Shoshana Johnson recently told her story to a crowd at Mountain View College. During her speech she described fearing that she would never see her daughter, then two-years-old ever again.
