I woke up and all I could see was Iraqis standing all around me, looking down upon me. I knew at that moment something terrible had happened and I wasn't in the right place.

I'm not about to take credit for something I didn't do. I did not shoot - not a round, nothing. I went down praying to my knees - that's the last thing I remember.

I don't come from a rich family - it's not like we lived in a cardboard box, but we didn't have a ton of money.

I don't think any war is worth having our soldiers killed.

I know that I'm already in the history books and that people are going to remember me as the prisoner of war and the fabricated stories, but you know, to me I was just another soldier over there doing my job.

I could be, you know, the person that shows little kids that giving up isn't something that you should do.

The truth is always more heroic than the hype.