Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 8, 1993 TAG: 9310080203
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Short
"That's David in the picture. That's David," she said.
Cleveland said she was notified Tuesday morning at work that her son, Staff Sgt. William David Cleveland Jr., was missing after a Blackhawk helicopter he was in was shot down.
Army officials acknowledged Wednesday that he was among those shot down Sunday in a raid that killed 12 U.S. soldiers and wounded 75 others. The Army has not listed Cleveland among the dead but said six unidentified soldiers were missing.
But when Mary Cleveland went home to Portsmouth to tell her family, she found they already knew. They handed her a copy of Tuesday's newspaper with a front-page photograph of the dead soldier.
The photo was blurred and a bright beam of light fell across the soldier's face. But she said most of her family believes David is the soldier in the photograph, although his wife in Tennessee does not agree.
"I'm torn up bad inside, I don't know where to turn," the mother said. "The only thing they'll tell me is he's missing in action."
"It looks like him - his face, his body, his physique," said his stepsister, Sandy Medlin. "Just look at his face."
David Cleveland, 34, serves with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment at Fort Campbell, Ky. He has five children.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB