Local Soldier Captured

A U.S. soldier being held captive in Iraq entered the military after high school because "that's what he always wanted to do," his mother said Monday.

Sgt. James Riley is one of five U.S. prisoners of war captured after Iraqi forces ambushed an army supply convoy around An Nasiriyah.

In an interview on MSNBC, his parents said the family lived in New Zealand until Riley was 10, then moved to Pennsauken. Riley graduated from Pennsauken High School, according to his mother, Jean.

Riley's father described his son as "stubborn."

In a video clip that aired Sunday on Iraqi television, Riley identified himself by speaking into a microphone thrust in front of him by his captors.

With his hands in his lap, he answered questions in a clipped fashion and said he was with the 507th Maintenance, part of the 111th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, stationed in Fort Bliss.

Micah Rasmussen, a spokesman for Gov. James E. McGreevey, said the governor was trying to contact the family to offer his support.

In the video on Iraqi television, four men and a woman are asked their names, hometowns, ages, and to explain what they are doing in Iraq.

Along with footage of the prisoners, the Iraqi tape contained gruesome images of bodies identified as dead U.S. soldiers.

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Author: NBC 10/AP