Discover

'Ronald Young Jr.' was a former POW in the 2003 Gulf military action against Iraq who later became a contestant in the reality show ''The Amazing Race 7''.

Contents

Bio

Iraqi POW

The Amazing Race 7

Life goes on

Trivia

See also

Sources

Bio

Ron grew up in Lithia Springs, Georgia and currently resides in Villa Rica, Georgia. He graduated from Douglas County High School in Douglasville, Georgia, studied mechanical engineering at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, Georgia, before joining the Army.^[1]

Iraqi POW

Ron was among seven POWs who were taken prisoner by Iraqi forces in the 2003 invasion. Back then, he was a Chief Warrant Officer whose Apache Longbow helicopter crashed in Karbala on March 24, 2003. Fellow pilot and Chief Warrant Officer David Williams, 31, and Ronald Young Jr., 26 Apache chopper, from the 1-227 Helicopter Attack Battalion tried to elude capture, but were taken prisoner by an Iraqi group who took them to Samarra, about 25 miles south of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown.^[2]
The Iraqi forces kept the two with the members of the 507th Maintenance Company who were earlier captured along with their comrade Jessica Lynch. The 507 POWs included Patrick Miller, Joseph Hudson, Shoshana Johnson, James Riley, and Edgar Hernandez. They were rescued soon after on April 13, 2003.

The Amazing Race 7

Over a year later, he competed in ''The Amazing Race 7'' together with his then girlfriend, beauty queen Kelly McCorkle. Although they were billed as the "Mormon^[3]/Former POW/Beauty Queen couple" and his back story about his POW days profiled, Ron, like almost all contestants who competed there (except for well-known ''Survivor'' contestants Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich), was identified only by his first name. Their relationship was strained during the race and they broke up after the race but they still have remained friends. They eventually finished third when in San Juan, Puerto Rico "We went to the regional airport instead of the international airport," ^[4] Young said, going to the wrong airport caused them to miss their flight.

Life goes on

Ron currently works as a motivational speaker and a cable news special contributor.

Trivia

★ Young became part of an urban legend when a viral email claiming that the Red Lobster in the town Young's unit was based refused to donate money to the Young family.^[5] Even though the Army, "highly discourages spouses soliciting businesses on behalf of families," and that "no business should feel strong-armed into donating" Red Lobster had actually wanted to give money but had ran out of gift certificates.

See also

★ American P.O.W.s in 2003 Iraq War

Sources

1. POW dad sees son on TV: 'That's him'
2. Freedom for 7 American POWs
3. LDS POW Ronald Young, Jr. Finding Comfort When “Our Worst Fears Are Realized”
4. 'Race' ends unhappily for ex-POW, girlfriend
5. Red-Faced Lobster