SPEC. Melissa Rathbun-Nealy, the first female to be taken as a prisoner of war during Operation Desert Storm, receives a rose from a medical technician aboard a C-141 Starlifter aircraft..Rathburn-Nealy, five other American former POWs, and an Italian POW were released from captivity on March 4 and are scheduled for medical examination and treatment aboard the hospital ship USNS MERCY (T-AH-19)