Recalling his time as a prisoner of war in Iraq as "sheer terror," Army Sgt. James Riley said Tuesday that the experience has left him feeling overwhelmed and confused at times.
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When asked what it was like to be held captive, Riley said that "on a scale of 1 to 10, I rate it about 2,000 and 20 billion. It was sheer terror the whole time." He said he lost about 30 pounds during the three weeks he was detained.

Lynch was rescued from an Iraqi hospital on April 1, while Riley and the six other POWs, including two Apache helicopter pilots who were not part of the 507th, were released April 13.

"They came in and said, 'If you're an American, stand up.' I will always remember them saying that. It was overwhelming," Riley said.

Gaining his freedom was bittersweet, though, because that was when Riley learned that his sister, Mary, 29, had died while he was a captive. She died March 28 after two months in a coma with a rare neurological disorder.

"That was an emotional overload (for me). It was sad, but life goes on," he said.

» Ex-POW Recalls Time in Iraq Captivity (washingtonpost.com)