Neighborhood Hopeful for POW’s Return

Relatives and former neighbors of Staff Sgt. Andrew Ramirez were hopeful Wednesday over news that the East Los Angeles man and two other U.S. soldiers seized by Yugoslav troops might be freed.

“I am continuously watching and reading everything I possibly can to get a clear picture on the possibility of negotiations and the steps to their release,” said Vivian Ramirez, the soldier’s mother.

She said she was praying for all three men and their families.

“As a mother, I can only share with you the deep concern I not only have for my son but the other two mothers . . . and their sons,” she said.

The acting president of Cyprus, Spyros Kyprianou, has begun a mission to win release of the soldiers, who were captured March 31 along the border of Yugoslavia and Macedonia.

While negotiations took place overseas, some residents of the neighborhood where Ramirez grew up planned a block party to welcome him home.

Others spoke more cautiously.

“We want to wait and see, because anything and everything can happen,” said Minerva Amaro, a cousin of Ramirez.

Two doors down from the Ramirez home, a longtime neighbor said he, too, was taking a wait-and-see approach. “If I see him here, then I’ll believe it,” Oscar Rios said.

News of efforts to win the soldiers’ release drew more well-wishers and mementos to the makeshift shrine outside the Ramirez home, where a collection of flowers, candles and posters grew.

“I pray to God that [Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic] will realize that it’s over,” said Victor Solano, a former neighbor who has made regular visits since Ramirez’s capture. “I think this is a sign that he knows it’s winding down.”

“It’s great,” said Richard Nunez, 11, who stopped by on his way home from school. “I feel like they should let him out.”

Meanwhile, in a speech Wednesday at a POW/MIA veterans outreach program at the West Los Angeles VA center, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Togo West Jr. had a message for the three soldiers.

“We’re proud of you, we are with you, we will not abandon you,” West said. “Be strong in that knowledge.”

He echoed President Clinton, saying the soldiers are entitled to humane treatment as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention. “We hold the Yugoslav government responsible for their well-being.”

Veterans attending the program talked at length about the three prisoners.

Bob Clark, a World War II veteran and prisoner of war for 3 1/2 years, said he felt a camaraderie with the captives.

“It’s an experience you never want to have to go through,” he said. “But the entire country is behind them and pulling for them.”