Wife of ex-POW overjoyed, in shock
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Williams, also an Army pilot, said seeing her husband on television "took a huge load off my shoulders."
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FORT HOOD, Texas (CNN) -- The wife of recently recovered American POW David Williams expressed joy, relief and shock Monday, one day after her husband was transferred from Iraqi control to U.S. custody.
"I feel like I'm watching a movie," said Michelle Williams, wearing a stars-and-stripes pin on her green shirt. "I watch the news and the television, and I think it's going to hit me sometime soon."
Iraqi forces captured Chief Warrant Officer David Williams, 30, and fellow Apache helicopter pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Ronald Young Jr., 26, on March 24 after their aircraft got struck by small-arms fire and made a hard landing behind Iraqi lines.
The soldiers ditched the helicopter, dove into a canal and swam away, but were caught by farmers waiting in a field with assault rifles. Iraqi TV later showed people celebrating near the downed helicopter.
Michelle Williams, who is herself an Army pilot, said she tried to keep her mind off the war, but "the minute" her husband left for Iraq the situation "became difficult. Once he was captured, it escalated."
"I went to sleep with the news every night," Michelle Williams told CNN.
"Before this happened, I hadn't heard from him for a couple of weeks," she said later in the day at a press conference. "But you just have to continue to pray, believe in your marriage, believe in your spouse and know that they are going to come home."
On Sunday, an Iraqi policeman approached a group of U.S. Marines and asked them if they had come for the prisoners, Brig. Gen. John Kelly told Matthew Fisher, a reporter with Canada's National Post newspaper.
The Marines, who had been controlling traffic in Samarra, Iraq, between Baghdad and Tikrit, followed the man to a nearby building where they found Williams, Young and five other prisoners of war.
The POWs were transported to an air base in south-central Iraq, then flown to Kuwait.
"Just seeing him [on television] and being able to see his eyes and his reaction to his rescue just took a huge load off my shoulders," Michelle Williams said.
Col. Jim McConville, the commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, to which both Young and Williams belong, said he "never doubted" the two pilots would be found. Both men are in "good shape" and are undergoing physical and mental tests before heading back to the United States.
"The brigade is ecstatic," McConville said, promising a large celebration when the pilots return to Texas.
